30/34
Told through the perspective of a strong-willed woman, the remarkable story of Irena Guth and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy as she risks her life to save a generation of Jews from the atrocities of the Holocaust Because it was a theatrical release in Canada, well beyond the typical Canadian film, for some reason distributor Elevation Pictures decided not to give the film a significant marketing budget. As a result, the film performed poorly at the box office and was pulled from most theaters by the end of its third week, or opening. (approx. 2 minutes) The opening title card states that the events take place on the eastern border of Poland. This area of Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union. Yet the area is occupied by German forces… Irena Gut Opdijk: What does it matter who we are? What we do is who we are. BoumMusic by Charles Trenet Lyrics by Charles Trenet Performed by Charlie and his Orchestra. I fully admit that I haven’t kept up with current film releases in recent years, as my knowledge is largely ad hoc and based on what shows up on my streaming services. I hadn’t heard of this film until I saw it on the Showtime card a few nights ago, I knew pretty much the same thing about all the parties involved. Also, I rarely write notes on IMDB, but in this case I feel drawn to it, given the undeservedly mediocre overall rating skewed by a review I find absurd in every way. So, on to the film itself. As others have noted, the acting and production values may be different, but what a story! There’s more of Schindler’s List here, but it’s even more extraordinary because the main character occupies a far from privileged position. Others have summed up the plot well; I won’t do it here, but as impressive as the whole thing is, the moral complexity and humanity of nearly all the characters, even the Germans, and the jungle-eyed vision of a director is even more impressive, even though they’re not the main villains here. The Soviets have almost as much to answer for their actions during this period as the Nazis, with plenty of bogus “good fight” attacks misnomer (like so many other things that have nothing to do with this film at all, like the Japanese-American internment, our bombing of civilians in Germany and Japan, indifference to the plight of European Jews, etc., etc.). I’m often moved by great cinema, but I must admit that looking at the real-life characters’ backstories in the credits brings tears to my eyes (don’t miss that!). This is somewhere between an 8 and 9 for me, but it benefits from doubting the story’s greatness and the need to raise the overall score here. I note that although this film is not Polish, it is set there and, together with Forgotten Love, forms a duo of two of the best films I have seen in recent years. Highly recommended.