Drama. Starring Saskia Rosendahl and Kai Malina. Directed by Cate Shortland. (Not rated. 108 minutes).

A German family is packing hurriedly to get away from the authorities. The children are bewildered. The parents are panicked, destroying any papers that might be taken the wrong way. Sounds like another movie about Jews escaping from the Nazis. Only in the case of "Lore," the parents are the Nazis, and the war is winding down.

This somewhat twisted coming-of-age story directed by Cate Shortland is a thoughtful, at times frustrating, look at the children of war criminals who not only journey to grandma's house but discover what really happened before and during World War II. Full of surprises, the movie draws a thin line between pity and revulsion - how would you feel if you had discovered your whole life had been based on lies?

Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) takes on the responsibility for her four siblings, including a young infant, with the aid of a mysterious young Jewish man (Kai Malina) who becomes their protector as well. These children, now faced with starvation, illness, deception and danger, were used to idyllic circumstances, trusting their parents' blind devotion to the fuehrer. Their beliefs are such that they think the American liberators will torture children. When a voice from a loudspeaker shouts that shooting in the back is punishable by death, one realizes what morals were being taught to the youth of Germany.


Leba Hertz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: lhertz@sfchronicle.com