Dievu miskas

The main problem with this film is the plodding pace. It's just so slow and long! For a war film, that's hard to accept. The historical context is interesting but this film did not do it as much justice as it deserves. There are moments that propel the plot and kept my interest but overall I would say this is a better sleeping aid than a film.

One of the greatest directors of Lithuanian cinema - Algimantas Puipa. One of the greatest novels - "The Forest of Gods" by Lithuanian writer Balys Sruoga. One of the worst screenings ever.

A true story about a professor who struggled with the inhumanity of Nazi in one of their death camps (Stuthof). Irony was the only weapon he had. "I laugh a lot during hard moments. I am deeply ironic - not to the people I'm going to die with, but to the whole wide world." - wrote Balys Sruoga in a letter to his wife from Stuthof death camp in 1944. The novel is a masterpiece, however, the movie - far from it: unnatural dialogs, forced acting.

I have read the novel by Balys Sruoga "Forest of the Gods" twice. Now I watched the movie. For those who also read the book, will surely understand how poor this movie is written/directed compared to the book. Of course, movies shouldn't be copies of the original, BUT it's really important to understand WHY people like the original in the first place! It's the ability to look at such horrific events with irony. The movie tries to look more serious and grotesque than the book and that fails. Also, because there aren't many witty remarks from the book, the film tends to be so slow and boring. I personally found only one interesting thing about the movie - the ending. The ending is so powerful, especially when you know the biography of the author. How hard it was for him to get the book published, that Sruoga didn't even get to see his own autobiographical novel get published due to the Soviet Union restrictions. All in all, I don't recommend watching the film if you read the book, because your expectations will be too high. I wouldn't recommend watching it without reading the book either, because maybe it can leave an impression on the viewer that the book is similar. BELIEVE ME, THE BOOK IS 100% WORTH IT. Please form an opinion just after reading the book, because I know people who disliked the book, it really depends on the individual.

This film is based on a slightly fictionised autobiography and reflects it very well. It's very sad and haunting film, with many interpretational elements. Some scenes are very artistic too. It's a very good arty film.

Hello everybody, I'm from Lithuania, the country where this movie was made :) Although I haven't seen it yet, I've read the book, which the movie is based on, "Balys Sruoga - Dievu Miskas" (Forest of the Gods) several times and the least I can say is that it's absolutely wonderful, capturing the cruelties of the concentration camp with subtle black humour and irony. Especially when describing the main "bad guys" (gards, authority of the camp). As you may know the book which the movie is based on is an autobiography of the author Balys Sruoga, he suffered in this camp and survived, then wrote a book. Not sure how good the movie is, but judging from the book it should be a masterpiece. Obviously, this movie should be viewed in original Lithuanian language for maximum effect, because sometimes, well most of the time, the subtitles are somewhat terrible. That'll be all,sorry for mistakes if any :)