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Chicago – There were countless foreign films in 2011 more deserving of an Oscar nod than Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness.” The film lacks the brutal edge, gut-wrenching tension and memorable characterizations that distinguished so many similar Holocaust-era dramas. Yet the lukewarm “been there, done that” reaction of many American critics has left me rather mystified.

This isn’t a great film, per se, but it is still a harrowing and compelling portrait of resilience in the face of evil. Best known for her fact-based exploration of Hitler youth, “Europa, Europa,” Holland is skilled at creating the sort of vividly atmospheric environment that seeps into a viewer’s bones. One of my favorite films as a child was Holland’s sublime 1993 adaptation of “The Secret Garden,” which viewed the gothic interiors and lush mazes through the eyes of bewitched children.

Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

With “In Darkness,” Holland burrows beneath the chaotic streets of a Polish city,...

Chicago – The subject of the Holocaust has become an entire film genre onto it’s own, embracing many different styles. The latest Holocaust film, “In Darkness,” feels like a disaster movie, and iconic Polish director Agnieszka Holland has steered it to a Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Based on a true story, it begins with the self-serving nature of human beings and evolves into their better angels. In the harboring of Polish Jews within a wretched sewer system, it also becomes emblematic of the whole evil of the Holocaust, the banishment of living human beings into the darkness of a hole in the earth, constituting a form of hell. Although many tales of these events have made into narrative films, to think about the reality of what actually happened is almost too much to fathom. This realization of hell is another bitter reminder of what humanity has had to consume.

Chicago – One of the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards is the Polish entry, “In Darkness.” The film is directed by filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, who had the same nomination honor in 1985 (”Angry Harvest”) and for Adapted Screenplay in 1992 (”Europa, Europa”).

Hailed as one of Poland’s most prominent contributors to their cinema history, Holland has had a career of filmmaking that has been provocative, and highly political. She was born in Warsaw right after World War II, and her Jewish grandparents were killed in the ghetto during that conflict. She made her first film in 1970, “Jesus Christ’s Sins,” while a student the Film and TV School of the Performing Arts in Prague, before embarking on a notable career in the Polish Film industry.

The Light Above: Milla Bankowicz (Krystyna) and Robert Wieckiewicz (Leopold) for “In Darkness’

Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Her first major...