In the annals of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen, this one probably comes in second right behind "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". Both films deal with the Holocaust, though this one sheds an unusual light on the fate of Jews who happened to live in the wrong place at the wrong time. Actually, they were living their lives as normal until the Nazi war machine turned their backs on the small village in question, and allowed, even encouraged the mass murder of over a hundred people, and relabeled the distribution of local farms as agrarian land reform. The truth of the matter all comes out when an American from Chicago visits his Polish brother who appears to live on the edge of mental instability. The brother's obsession in rescuing the gravestones of dead Jews raises the ire of the town folk as well as the local police when he destroys a road that used the grave markers as a foundation for a road bed.
The most distressing part of the story occurs near the finale when an aged citizen who took part in the atrocities is confronted by Franciszek Kalina (Ireneusz Czop), and the man defends his actions, much as Nazi concentration camp guards justified their behavior as part of their job without questioning. It gets worse however, when the Kalina Brothers find out that their own father participated in the brutal burning deaths of the victims a half century earlier. As the brothers decide to deal with their emotions in different ways, it's Józef Kalina (Maciej Stuhr) who becomes yet another victim of the town's hate. I thought it took a lot of gall for the police chief to declare that Józef hung himself when it was clear that the younger brother was crucified. Just another denial in a village full of denial about the past and unwilling to face the truth of history.
Some will criticize the film as a propaganda tool that excoriates the Polish people and casts an entire nation in an unfavorable light. I'm of Polish descent myself, but just as in the case of movies depicting the history of slavery in America, you can't judge an entire nation based on the actions of an unenlightened segment of society that took the wrong path. This film is a brave statement by Polish writer and director Wladyslaw Pasikowski, who demonstrates with this work that the term 'Never Again' needs to be emphasized and reinforced for succeeding generations.
The most distressing part of the story occurs near the finale when an aged citizen who took part in the atrocities is confronted by Franciszek Kalina (Ireneusz Czop), and the man defends his actions, much as Nazi concentration camp guards justified their behavior as part of their job without questioning. It gets worse however, when the Kalina Brothers find out that their own father participated in the brutal burning deaths of the victims a half century earlier. As the brothers decide to deal with their emotions in different ways, it's Józef Kalina (Maciej Stuhr) who becomes yet another victim of the town's hate. I thought it took a lot of gall for the police chief to declare that Józef hung himself when it was clear that the younger brother was crucified. Just another denial in a village full of denial about the past and unwilling to face the truth of history.
Some will criticize the film as a propaganda tool that excoriates the Polish people and casts an entire nation in an unfavorable light. I'm of Polish descent myself, but just as in the case of movies depicting the history of slavery in America, you can't judge an entire nation based on the actions of an unenlightened segment of society that took the wrong path. This film is a brave statement by Polish writer and director Wladyslaw Pasikowski, who demonstrates with this work that the term 'Never Again' needs to be emphasized and reinforced for succeeding generations.