This film was up for the Oscar for best film in another language than English in 2012, (If you prefer, the Oscar for best foreign language film. I find this expression condescending and chauvinistic. In the age of the global village, this expression should be revised.)
It's the true story of a simple man who somewhat in spite of himself does heroic and compassionate deeds. This man goes from exploiter of the weak to saviour of the desperate in the face of immense monstrosities. It's a hard film on the Polish occupation by the Germans in the last world war. It's a dark movie also as the title suggests, with most of the action playing out in the depths of the sewers as a group of refugee Jews hide from the occupant. The imagery is rich but cold. Although we witness great suffering on screen, the viewer isn't drawn in, except perhaps in the desperate infanticide scene. We are held back as bystanders in front of all these horrors and this essentially holds back this film from greatness. This is, in my opinion, due to inadequate direction.
It's the true story of a simple man who somewhat in spite of himself does heroic and compassionate deeds. This man goes from exploiter of the weak to saviour of the desperate in the face of immense monstrosities. It's a hard film on the Polish occupation by the Germans in the last world war. It's a dark movie also as the title suggests, with most of the action playing out in the depths of the sewers as a group of refugee Jews hide from the occupant. The imagery is rich but cold. Although we witness great suffering on screen, the viewer isn't drawn in, except perhaps in the desperate infanticide scene. We are held back as bystanders in front of all these horrors and this essentially holds back this film from greatness. This is, in my opinion, due to inadequate direction.