A double time capsule

“Reunion,” a brilliant film that seems to have passed largely unnoticed when it was released 37 years ago, is receiving a much-deserved revival next month.

Set largely in Stuttgart, Germany, during the rise of Nazism, it is intelligent, suspenseful, and, given today’s daily headlines, surprisingly relevant.

The British film stars Jason Robards as Henry Strauss, today a seemingly successful New York businessman, but once Hans Strauss (Christien Anholt), a lad growing up in the shadow of Nazi antisemitism. Strauss returns to his native Stuttgart hoping to discover what happened to a childhood buddy, Konradin von Lohenburg (Samuel West).

Theirs was an unlikely friendship. Strauss is Jewish, the son of a physician, while von Lohenburg, as his name suggests, is the scion of an aristocratic family.

It’s 1933, the Nazi party is gaining influence and life has become increasingly precarious for Jews. But as was all too common at the time, most refuse to believe their eyes.

A Zionist friend of Dr. Jakob Strauss (Bert Parnaby), Hans’s father, urges him to pack his bags and leave. But the senior Strauss essentially retorts: Don’t be ridiculous.

“This is the land of Goethe, Schiller, and Beethoven,” he said. “They’re not going to fall for that rubbish. Yes, I’m proud to be a Jew. I’m proud to be a German.”

Asked what kind of Jew he is, he says “We go to synagogue on Yom Kippur and sing ‘Silent Night’ at Christmas.”

Meanwhile, swastikas and brown shirts have become ubiquitous. Yet, like his father, young Hans seems oblivious to the changing tide. He and Konradin continue to walk each other to and from school and gambol around the countryside on weekends.

But the tension rises as it becomes clear that social restraints are ending and Jew hatred can now be openly expressed, both verbally and physically.

Hans faces both, but it is Konradin who hurts him most. At the opera one evening, Hans spies his friend with his family. He approaches, expecting to be introduced. After all, Konradin had been a welcome guest at his house. But he is ignored.

Later, Hans asks why and is told: “You’re a Jew, and my mother hates Jews. She would have insulted you. If she was dying and your father was the only one who could save her, she wouldn’t let him touch her. And she hates you even more because you are my friend.”

They heal their rift, but their friendship cannot withstand time. Hans’s parents send him to New York to live with an uncle. They don’t follow. In a move symbolic of what will happen to their religious kin, they snuff the flame of their gas lights, lie down in bed, and commit suicide.

“Reunion” was directed by Jerry Schatzberg (“Panic in Needle Park” and “Scarecrow”) with a screenplay by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter (“The French Lieutenant’s Woman” and “The Betrayal”), based on a novel by Fred Uhlman.

So the expectation is that the film will be intelligent and it delivers. It depicts scenes that are uncomfortably familiar. Henry does discover what happened to his friend. No spoiler here. But it is as perfect as the movie.

Starting April 3, “Reunion” will run for two weeks at the Film Forum in Manhattan, with an expanded release promised.