Love in wartime is a common dramatic theme because it represents hope in the darkest of times. The movie “I’ll Find You” is a solid example of this type of plotline as it tells the story of two young lovers torn apart by World War II.
Robert (Leo Suter) and Rachel (Adelaide Clemens) are two Polish musicians whose childhood romance blossoms into a full-blown love affair just as the Nazis are about to invade their country.
Complicating matters is the fact that while Robert is Catholic, Rachel is Jewish and her family quickly becomes a target of the Gestapo.
After Rachel is taken into custody and sent to a concentration camp, Robert briefly joins the resistance before traveling to Germany to study with famed German opera singer Benno Moser (Stellan Skarsgard).
While Benno wants to cultivate Robert’s talent, he also has no love for the Nazis and uses his influence to help Robert track down Rachel.
After several close encounters and near-misses, the odds increasingly mount against Robert and Rachel surviving the war, let alone being able to reunite after the shooting has stopped.
“I’ll Find You” has the tone and production value of a very-special episode of “Downton Abbey” (and I mean that as a compliment).
It’s a little soapy and at times a little unwieldy, but director Martha Coolidge (who made her hay in the 80s with movies like “Valley Girl” and “Real Genius”) keeps things moving right along while keeping the story anchored in the harsh reality of the times.
The performances are solid all around as Suter and Clemens have a nice chemistry together that makes it easy to root for them as they traverse the brutality of the war.
“I’ll Find You” is a simple and familiar tale in many ways, but it does such a good job at being simple and familiar it’s hard to find too many faults with it.
“I’ll Find You” is not rated but contains violence, intense situations and some sexuality.
