Something like a documentary “Inception” with a story inside of a tale that is itself part of a narrative, “Misha and the Wolves” boasts several layers, all of them fascinating. Concerned with notions of legacy, trauma, memory, and deceit, the documentary by director Sam Hobkinson juggles multiple stories, people, and time periods with seeming ease, weaving a fascinating, multi-faceted tale in a tight 85 minutes. Shocking without an ounce of manipulation, the documentary uses the format of its own presentation to connect the threads of its remarkable story, creating a unique narrative synergy with its subject matter.
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Hobkinson opens things with a straightforward unspooling of the primary narrative, which follows the fascinating life of Misha Defonseca, originally from Belgium, but now living in Massachusetts. In the mid-1990s, Misha caused a sensation when she opened up about her experiences as a young Jewish girl during World War II, relating a story to her synagogue about how she wandered the woods of Belgium and Germany alone after her parents were “deported” by the Nazis. Her story about the multi-year odyssey, which included a bit about Misha falling in with a pack of wolves, was captivating enough to get the attention of a book publisher, Jane Daniel, who turned it into a bestseller and got immediate interest from Disney and Oprah.
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All this attention seemed to spook Misha, however, and instead of taking advantage of all this interest, she instead retreated to her home and began a protracted legal battle with Jane over book royalties. One lawsuit and a failed appeal later, Jane was broke and looking for a way out of the mess she’d gotten herself into. This led her to a couple of genealogists and a journalist who did some digging and discovered that pretty much everything about Misha’s story was suspect or flat out false.
“Misha and the Wolves” proceeds from here like a detective procedural, utilizing talking head interviews with Jane and genealogist Evelyne Haendel, herself a “hidden” child of World War II. While Misha was on a European tour for her book, talking to school children and promoting the movie based on her life, Jane, Evelyne, and journalist Marc Metdepenningen uncovered evidence proving that Misha’s ordeal was largely a fiction. It’s a shocking revelation, yet within the context of the documentary, is only about half the story.
Misha and Jane’s legal dispute serve as the foundation for the conflict presented, here, yet Hobkinson wisely avoids setting either up as the focal point for the narrative. Misha did a terrible thing by appropriating the trauma of the Holocaust for personal profit, yet the documentary stops short of assigning blame or judgment to her (her real-life story is indeed sad). Likewise, although Jane is ultimately vindicated, legally, by the discoveries of Evelyn and Marc, she’s hardly the hero of the story: she lost two lawsuits for cheating a Holocaust victim, after all.
Indeed, how things look from the outside doesn’t necessarily translate to an easy resolution once everything involved and all the particulars are understood. As the final moments of “Misha and the Wolves” play out, and the audience realizes that the woman giving the interview as Misha is actually an actress (Laura Liberatore), the themes of the documentary crystalize. As if to acknowledge that any retelling of a “true” story is burdened with the perceptions or assumptions of the transmitter, Hobkinson shows the audience the disassembling of Misha’s house soundstage, and even Misha herself (in the makeup chair).
It’s a remarkable cap to the documentary, which is itself well-paced, engaging, and full of shoe-leather research that is as captivating as any fiction involving a Natty Gann wolf trek knock-off. As an exploration of a twisty, tangled drama full of lies and hidden half-truths, it is fascinating, yet also responsible. Although baptism records, school rosters, and even first-person interviews with the people who were there give the audience the best possible version of this story, fact-wise, the “truth” remains elusive.
How Misha decided to cope with the trauma of her childhood is real enough, even if the means to that end were rooted in deceit; Jane’s legal victory, a vindication to be sure, doesn’t change the fact that she proceeded with publication even after she learned early on that Misha’s tale was suspect. Hobkinson has managed to tell this story in a way that honors the excellent research of Evelyn and Marc without judging or lionizing anyone. Too often, documentaries work towards a pre-established conclusion that is sold to the audience like evidence at a trial. “Misha and the Wolves” succeeds because it allows the viewer to find their own truth, wherever that might lead them (minus the wolves). [A]
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