41/21
2 minutes) The opening title card states that the events are taking place on the eastern border of Poland
Synopsis
Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the extraordinary story of Irena Gut and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy as she risks her life to save a generation of Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust. Although this Canadian film had a much wider theatrical release in Canada than a typical Canadian film, for some reason its 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 at the end of its third week or so of release. (approx.
What we do is who we are
This area of Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union. However, this area is occupied by German troops. Irena Gut Opdyke: What does it matter who we are? BoumMusic by Charles Trenet, Lyrics by Charles Trenet, Performed by Charlie and his Orchestra.
So let’s get to the film itself
I fully admit that I have been a poor communicator of current releases over the last few years, as my knowledge has been mostly ad hoc, based on what appears on my streaming services. I had never heard of this film until I saw it on Showtime a few days ago. I knew pretty much the same thing about all parties involved. I also rarely write notes on IMDB, but in this case I am drawn to the undeservedly mediocre overall score, skewed by one review that I find laughable in every way.
As others have noted, the acting and production values may be uneven, but what a story!
There is more than a little Schindler’s List here, but this one is even more remarkable because the protagonist is not in a privileged position at all. Others have summed up the plot well; I won’t do that here, but it’s as impressive as the story itself, and moreover, the moral complexity and humanity of almost all the characters, even the Germans, and the filmmaker’s vision with the drill that, while they’re not the main bad guys here, the Soviets are almost as responsible for their actions at the time as the Nazis, which pretty much gives the lie to the “Good Fight” misnomer (as are many other things completely unrelated to this film, like the internment of Japanese and Americans, our bombing of civilians in Germany and Japan, our indifference to the plight of European Jews, etc., etc.). I’m often moved by great cinema, but I have to admit that watching the further stories of real characters that appear during the credits more than brings tears to my eyes (don’t miss it!). This gives me a rating somewhere between 8 and 9, but it gains the advantage of doubts about the greatness of this story and the need to bump up the overall score here.
I highly recommend it
I would like to point out that although this film is not Polish, its action takes place there, making it a duet of the two best films I have seen in recent years, along with “Forgotten Love”.