It's not the most consistently engaging documentary you'll ever see, but Facing Arthur (2002) certainly has an interesting premise. There's no shortage of films dealing with the Holocaust and related events, so filmmakers Stefan Knerrich, Michael Rey and Amy Rubin set out to tackle a different kind of issue: how one German attempted to build a friendship with an elderly Holocaust survivor.

Our survivor is Arthur Lederman, a 100-year old man confined to his Manhattan apartment for the last few years. Naturally, he's skeptical about the idea of spending time with a German, but young Cristoph Erbsloch shows up anyway. The latter is associated with Action Reconciliation, a German organization allowing young people to perform community service for a NY Jewish social service agency instead of joining the military. His assignment: to help around Arthur's apartment, buy groceries, and everything else social service entails. Though Arthur initially masks his mistrust for the young man, the earliest footage of their Thursday meetings shows the elderly man to be anything but grateful for the help. His passive-aggressive behavior leads to debate about Cristoph's heritage---not so much blaming him for the sins of his people, but grouping all Germans into the same unfortunate category.

They do share one important thing in common, though: their love of concert music. Cristoph is an accomplished young cellist, while Arthur was once a renowned violinist in his native Poland before being forced to move away in 1938. Their first steps on the way to friendship are made through music, especially when the young man performs in Arthur's apartment. Slowly buy surely, they find more common ground to develop a genuine respect for one another. Though the 80-year difference in their age would normally prove otherwise, Facing Arthur shows that it's never too late (or too early) to make a difference in another person's life.

Here's the main problem with Facing Arthur, though: at just 60 minutes in length, it's entirely too short to really show how the year changed both subjects. There's a handful of emotional moments and even a bit of personal history, but such a major crossroads in their lives should have been presented in more detail. Despite the tragedies Arthur went through in life---including the death of his family---the initial prejudice he shows towards the young man is off-putting and hard to stomach. When Cristoph's community service is up after a year, they have developed a level of respect for one another---yet there's the nagging doubt that the film could've dug deeper. Still, Facing Arthur is recommended viewing, as the interesting premise and historical value easily make it one of the year's most unique films. It's not the most well-rounded effort, but it's worth watching at least once.

Unfortunately, Anchor Bay didn't really dig deep, either. The film's technical presentation holds up well on DVD, but the lack of bonus features really hurts this release in the long run. Viewers who enjoyed the documentary during its HBO broadcast run may want to snag this disc, but $20 for 60 minutes of content is a pretty tough sell. Facing Arthur almost stands on its own two feet, but a more complete DVD presentation would've made a world of differece. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

The attractive menu designs (seen above) offer a nice atmosphere and easy navigation, though we'll soon find out there's not much content to navigate through. The 60-minute documentary has been divided neatly into a dozen chapters, with no layer change detected during playback. Packaging was very simple and straightforward, as this one-disc release is housed in a standard black keepcase with text-heavy cover art. A matching double-sided chapter insert has also been included.

No film-related bonus features are included here. No commentary, no additional interviews or deleted scenes...not so much as a follow-up to our two main subjects (though a brief hint is offered on HBO's website, linked here). Only a handful of Trailers for other FeatureDoc releases has been included (above right), but it's not enough to justify the $20 price tag.

Anchor Bay's DVD treatment certainly isn't anything to write home about, but the strength of this film alone should keep it from being ignored. The lack of bonus features and nature of the material doesn't make Facing Arthur a strong blind buy recommendation by any means, but ardent fans of human drama---or educators in search of a suitable classroom film---should find this documentary a unique and interesting experience. Still, there's just not enough meat on this stand-alone release to recommended it as anything other than a solid choice for the weekend. Rent It.