‘I’ll Find You’ Film Review: Martha Coolidge Directs a Visually Lush WWII Romance
This old-school love story is way more interested in relationships than historical tragedy
Viewers will probably know whether “I’ll Find You” is of interest just from hearing one typical line of dialogue: “No matter what happens,” our handsome Catholic hero promises his beloved Jewish girlfriend when the Nazis invade Poland, ‘We’ll always be together.’”
It’s not much of a spoiler to say that this World War II drama is also an unabashedly old-fashioned romance. But it’s nice to be able to add that — thanks to the expertise of director Martha Coolidge — it’s a particularly polished one.
Violinists Rachel Rubin (Adelaide Clemens, “The Great Gatsby”) and Robert Pulaski (Leo Suter, “Vikings: Valhalla”) meet as children, while attending a prestigious music school in Lodz run by Lena (Connie Nielsen). (The kids are played in flashback, and with great charm, by Ursula Parker and Sebastian Croft.)
In time-honored tradition, they see each other as competitors and spend all their time sparring until they finally realize how much they have in common. They are inseparable for years, until Robert leaves to study opera in Italy, and Rachel is pushed, by her parents, into marrying the more suitable David (Jacob Ifan, “A Discovery of Witches”).
When Robert returns in 1939, Rachel realizes how much she still loves him, despite the fact that her whole family is preparing to join David’s in Switzerland. Tragically, the Nazis arrive just hours before the two can make their escape.
This leaves Robert distraught and alone, attempting to live up to the movie’s title. His strategies include joining the resistance, apprenticing to an opera star (Stellan Skarsgård) with connections to Nazis, and even performing at a concentration camp in hopes of locating Rachel.
Suter, in his first major movie role, is unable to find hidden depths in a blandly written romantic interest, and Robert should really be the support rather than the lead. He’s not complex enough to carry the film’s weight, and his Zelig-like adventures give the Holocaust a feeling of suspenseful backdrop rather than surreal nightmare. It doesn’t help that the fates of nearly everyone he passes are almost impatiently brushed aside by writers David S. Ward (the legendary screenwriter behind “The Sting” and “Sleepless in Seattle”) and Bozenna Intrator in their single-minded advance toward the all-important finale.
Rachel’s experiences are similarly sanitized, but Clemens imbues the character with fuller emotion. And the pair do have strong chemistry, which may be the most important factor in what is, ultimately, a Nicholas Sparks–style saga.
Skarsgård is strangely underused, but Nielsen leads an appealing supporting cast that also includes Stephen Dorff as a Nazi general. And the entire film looks great in a way that reminds us of Coolidge’s extensive experience, which ranges from indie classics like “Valley Girl” and “Rambling Rose” to the Emmy-winning “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.”
She clearly put a lot of thought and effort into production, making use of on-location sites like Poland’s beautiful Izrael Poznanski Palace, and drawing on resident talent for consistently striking mise-en-scène. She and cinematographer Alexander Gruszynski (“The Craft”) also evade the typical pitfalls of historical films, which are often too eager to draw our attention to period details in ostentatious and distracting fashion. Instead, the lush visual warmth matches the carefully researched costumes and uniformly first-rate art and production design.
The opera scenes are occasionally a bit jarring, with professionals obviously dubbing Skarsgård and Suter, but the music is deftly blended, and classical fans will embrace a keenly-assembled soundtrack composed primarily of performances from the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
The pandemic had kept the movie idling, like too many others, and at some point its original title “Music, War and Love” was downgraded to a generic substitute that would better suit a Hallmark movie. Perhaps it was changed to avoid disappointing anyone looking for an in-depth war story, but don’t be fooled: “I’ll Find You” is an ideal diversion for those who like their cinematic escapism with heavy doses of music and love.
“I’ll Find You” opens Friday in U.S. theaters and on-demand.
I’LL FIND YOU
"skewed moral compass".
What You Need To Know:
Miscellaneous Immorality: Strong miscellaneous content including moral relativism as multiple affairs are justified for various reasons, one brief scene involving animal cruelty, and characters lie to ensure their safety from the German National Socialists.
More Detail:
Set in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, I’LL FIND YOU begins as Rachel Rubin and Robert Pulaski get off on the wrong foot in their music academy as young children. They butt heads and compete against each other to be the best at the violin. However, after Robert makes a holiday effort to amend things with her, he soon discovers that his talent lies within his voice and begins to pursue a singing career instead.
Robert leaves and returns all grown up to reunite with his former classmates and with his childhood crush, Rachel. However, he soon learns she’s engaged to be married and meant to travel to Prague for a music competition. He begs her not to go through with the marriage. When their teacher Lena warns of the Germans invading Prague, he volunteers to accompany Rachel on her journey.
When they return, they have consummated their relationship, although Rachel is still engaged to be married. Her parents are frustrated with her lack of interest in her fiancé, but Rachel’s father informs the family that they will be leaving for Switzerland the next morning to avoid the Nazi invasion. However, the invasion comes just hours before they are set to leave, and they are forced into hiding. Robert joins a local resistance movement, but it isn’t enough to save the Rubin family when the Nazis find them in their hiding spot and swiftly escort them to Auschwitz.
Robert immediately decides to accept an offer to study opera with a prestigious teacher, Benno Moser, in Germany so that he can figure out a way to locate and free Rachel. He is forced almost instantly to perform in front of Adolf Hitler himself and other officers of the Nazi regime, but with Moser on his side, they’re able to make their way into Auschwitz to perform with the orchestra there, where he finally sees Rachel in the first chair violin.
Devastated by her imprisonment, Moser tries to buy her freedom under the cover of wanting her to play for his opera, but it doesn’t work because of her Jewish background. Soon after, Moser is suspected of treason by the Nazis, and Robert is forced to run from the estate but finds refuge helping out on a small farm in the woods. While there, he spots British troops making their way through who inform him that the war is in fact almost over. Now he can finally continue his mission and keep his promise to find Rachel so that they can finally be together in safety.
Most movies centering on the Holocaust can be extremely emotional and pull on the heartstrings of the audience, but this story falls short of evoking any such feeling. The story is written on almost a surface level, and the characters aren’t able to create empathy with the viewers, leaving an almost apathetic feeling. The lead actor feels like he’s reaching at most points and can’t get to where he needs to be to move the audience the way they should be moved. The production values are high, with beautiful locations, costumes and period piece hair and makeup, but with the story lacking, the production design isn’t enough to hold the viewer’s attention.
I’LL FIND YOU follows a primarily romantic worldview, with some moral elements, but a lot of moral relativism. The main character’s affair is easily justified because of their love for each other, and they sleep together even though Rachel is engaged to another man. Of course, good does triumph over evil in regards to the war, as it is common knowledge, but the moral compass by all of the protagonists is heavily skewed. I’LL FIND YOU HAS a mild amount of violence, including some blood, sexual situations which include nudity, and some alcohol and tobacco use. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for I’LL FIND YOU.