The Island on Bird Street

1997 1h 47m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 75

DramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Alex is an 11-year old boy who, during WWII, hides in the Jewish ghetto from Nazis after all his relatives have been sent to the concentration camp. The movie portrays the ghetto through his eyes.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Patrick Bergin
Stefan
Jordan Kiziuk
Alex
Jack Warden
Boruch
James Bolam
Doctor Studjinsky
Michael Byrne
Bolek
Stefan Sauk
Goehler
Suzanna Hamilton
Stasya's Mother
Marek Grabowski
Adam

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Søren Kragh-Jacobsen
Writers: Tony Grisoni, John Goldsmith
Languages: German, Latin, English

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, Latin, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, shot by Ian Wilson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Zbigniew Preisner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Patrick Bergin and Jordan Kiziuk and Jack Warden carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0119389 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 75 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Søren Kragh-Jacobsen directs. Ian Wilson behind the camera. Zbigniew Preisner scores. Dialogue in German, Latin, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

129 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, Latin, English.
3Directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, shot by Ian Wilson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Zbigniew Preisner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Patrick Bergin and Jordan Kiziuk and Jack Warden carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0119389 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 75 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
8Classified under 9 themes, including "nazi", "jewish ghetto", "world war ii", "based on true story".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ian Wilson
Original score: Zbigniew Preisner
Production design: Andrzej Rafał Waltenberger
Costume design: Barbara Śródka-Makówka
Stunt coordinator: Wacław Wiszniowski
Runtime: 107 min · 1h 47m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Island on Bird Street (1997)

Also by

Søren Kragh-Jacobsen

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-03-05
★ 7/10
With the Nazis having reduced Warsaw to little more than rubble, the young “Alex” (Jordan Kiziuk) is separated from his family, who have been sent to a concentration camp, and is now forced to scavenge as best he can amongst the ruins. Fortunately, this is a resourceful young lad who quickly learns his way around the ghetto using the sewers and the attics to keep himself safe. That’s easier said than done as the water supply has been turned off and food is extremely scarce. There are still people in the city but with plenty prepared to turn him in for an apple or a loaf of bread, he has to be very wary of whom he can trust. His encounter with fellow refugees “Freddy” (Lee Ross) and “Henyrk” (Simon Gregor) alerts him to a way out of their squalid environment into safer parts but he still hopes for a reunion with his dad “Stefan” (Patrick Bergin) and for that to happen, however unlikely, he must risk remaining in a Jewish quarter that is being slowly demolished by the invaders. It’s a lot of responsibility for this young lad who really only has himself and his pet mouse “Snow” against perils around every corner, and Kiziuk holds that role together engagingly well. This film is also quite interesting in that it tells us the story from that child’s perspective which offers quite an affecting way to demonstrate both the brutishness of the soldiers and their indiscriminate thuggery as neither age nor sex made the slightest difference to the treatment they received. The production takes us deep into the infrastructure of “Ptasia Street” and into the psychology of both this boy and those he encounters as he must live his life by his guile and with some occasional goodwill, and though the brutality isn’t as graphic as in many similar stories, it is just as impactful. It’s quite compelling to watch and his choice of book - “Robinson Crusoe” rather sums the whole thing up.