‘Reunion’ (PG-13)

"Reunion" is a wistful, rather frail drama about a friendship that flowers, then withers with the rise of antisemitism in Germany in the 1930s. Adapted by Harold Pinter from the novel by Fred Uhlman, the movie seems sparse and plain as a hausfrau's apron, but is rich in what is left unsaid.

Jason Robards plays Henry, a present-day New York lawyer who reluctantly returns to Germany for the first time in 55 years. "I have to take care of this ... thing," he says upon heading for Stuttgart, where a visit to a cobwebbed storage bin brings back the pain of innocence lost and trust betrayed.

Essentially the film is one long flashback with British actors Christien Anholt and Samuel West as the young Henry (then Hans) Strauss and Konradin Von Lohenburg. The past is monochromatic, faded and sad as Henry's memories of his schoolboy days, his family, the bitter end of a kinship that is portrayed as deep platonic love.

Konradin, a member of the German gentry, and Hans, the son of a Jewish doctor, meet when Konradin transfers to the local gymnasium, a fusty all-boys school. Surprisingly, Konradin is not interested in the boys of his stratum, but he has much in common with the intellectual Hans. Their discussions of Freud turn into camping trips in the Black Forest, which Henry remembers as idyllic but for the occasional row with the local fascist bully boys.

Though both Konradin and Hans's father dismiss the Nazis, Hans is frightened by the growing antisemitism beneath the surface calm. Dr. Strauss (Bert Parnaby) is a Jew who believes himself a German first -- a decorated World War I veteran and a deluded man. His wife (Barbara Jefford) never disputes him, but we can see the truth like a ghost in her eyes.

"Reunion," as directed by Jerry Schatzberg, is haunting, but there is an emotional emptiness at its core. It's as if Schatzberg, who is noted for nitty-gritty films such as "Street Smart," was somehow frightened of this gentle drama -- afraid he might break its fragile skin like a soap bubble and find hell inside.