User reviews

It's WWII in German-occupied Polish city Lwów. Leopold Socha is a sewer worker and an opportunist looking to enrich himself with Jewish gold. At first, he and his co-worker friend Szczepek Wróblewski help the Jews but only for a price. However, the danger of discovery mounts. Some people get suspicious. Leopold finds himself alone hiding his group even after they run out of money.

The obvious holocaust movie comparison is the great 'Schindler's List'. Of course, there is similarity between Schindler and Socha. However the characters in this movie seem move gritty. It's more than the grungy sewer location. It is the people's pettiness and ugly racism. It's not just the Germans, or the Ukranians or the Poles. It's also the Jews. For most of the movie, the motives are not high-minded. Fear and the survival instincts hold sway. The eventual idealism comes not as a single revelation as Schindler riding his horse watching the ghetto be liquidated. It comes in a series of steps that moves forward and backwards. More than once, Socha almost abandons his Jews and almost as many times, Socha is about to be killed by his Jews. This is more gritty and compelling in a different way. Socha is a hero almost by chance but it is his humanity overcoming his fears that is the true story. He is no mover and shaker. He is a blue collar grunt and he risks the little that he had for the sake of strangers. Filming in the narrow confines of the sewer set does limit the visual scale. It doesn't always provide the best views.

There have been a rash of holocaust films in recent years told from various view points and "In Darkness" is a worthy addition to the pantheon of films that re-tell the horror of the Jewish ghettos of Poland and their clearances. At a time when anti-semitic tendencies are once again beginning to emerge in various European countries it is sobering to be reminded of the consequences of the vicious hatred whipped up by the Nazis in the 30's and 40's.

While some might argue that the film is perhaps 20 minutes too long I was not aware of the time passing, being thoroughly engrossed in the attempts by a small group of Jews to survive long enough in the sewers to evade capture by either the Germans or the murderous Ukranian police force who did much to assist the Nazis in their elimination of the Jews in Poland. The scenes cut between the dankness of the sewers and the light of the streets above and whenever we are transported up from the dark and into the light, as an audience, we take gulps of fresh air.

I suspect there was some artistic licence employed but the story itself pins you to the seat and the collective sigh when the final message comes up on the screen at the very end is almost palpable.

The subject matter of some films is so serious that it makes it difficult to assess the work in purely cinematic terms. This is especially true of real-life events that raise moral issues and there can be no bigger instance than that of the Holocaust which is every second of "In Darkness". It tells a story that would be literally incredible if it was not true: how a dissolute Polish sewer worker called Leopold Socha saved the lives of a dozen Jews by hiding them underground for months. This happened in what was during the Second World War the Polish town of Lwów and today is the Ukrainian town of Lviv. In 1978, Socha and his wife were awarded the title "Righteous among the Nations" by Yad Vashem in Israel.

The film is the work of Polish female director Agnieszka Holland and it is a Polish, German and Canadian co-production with a screenplay by Canadian writer David F. Shamoon. In any country, the film will have some subtitles, because the dialogue involves Polish, Ukrainian, Yiddish and German, and of course in English-speaking nations the whole thing is sub-titled which will limit its appeal to many, but it really is a work worth watching. Holland effectively conveys the paralysing fear and utter squalor of life in the sewers and Robert Wieckiewicz as Socha - like the other actors - shows how the unbearable stresses of such situations make people behave in ways, both good and bad, which are out of character.

"In Darkness" does not have the narrative drive and clear characterisation of "Schindler's List" but, like Spielberg's film, it is powerful movie-making and heart-wrenching storytelling.

I watched this movie a few days back and I'm still contemplating what I saw. It took me a while until I decided to watch it. I thought I saw enough movies about The Second World War and about The Holocaust in particular. But after watching it I was almost ashamed that I could think like this. It's not like I'm ignorant, I just think that movies about war are always too simple – so I prefer to read books rather than watch movies. But this movie is different. I was touched very deeply and I don't regret any second spent on watching it.

The script is focused around the characters and maybe that is the strongest part of it. The war is only the background. We see how people can change and how they act when the tension around is almost unbearable. We see the brightest and the darkest side of humanity. And maybe what is most important here, we see common people. Without guns, without any special abilities – true, honest characters with all their doubts, needs and desires. Only the circumstances are not common, so our characters try to deal with them. The word "our" characters is not an accident. I felt very close to these characters – bad or good, it didn't matter – they were almost naked in their emotions. And I think it's very true: in the horror of the war you don't have the time or the strength to hide behind some kind of curtain. No matter to what God we pray, what language we speak, in the end we are all human – and it's our choice, what we make of our humanity.

Preferably watch it in the movie theater. Only then it is possible to experience the grand play of lights and the perfect work of the camera. In this movie also this aspect has its strong impact on the viewer.

I would say while watching this movie, I felt like I was in the very same place as our characters. It's very rare for me to have such feelings, so for me it's the best proof that this movie is in some way exceptional. I thought how I would act in situations the characters are in and I'm glad that I haven't been and I hope I never will be.

And I keep thinking that I'm very thankful for the creators, producers and the whole crew for this movie!

I saw this movie at the Savannah Film Festival in Georgia today... Going in I thought this movie would be just another holocaust movie. But it was more than just a holocaust movie the story which is based off a true story told the story of people who regardless of race are escaping from their deaths by hiding in a sewer throughout the war. I was amazed by how this movie could keep my attention throughout as seeing that it's just a group of people hiding underground but it did. It's a long movie but entertaining throughout. The story embraced these poor individuals and showed their struggles and I was amazed by the acting. I was also amazed by all the challenges that they had gone through to produce this movie and my thought of how stressful it would be to be on a set like this. As a young cinematographer myself, I was impressed by the lighting and the picture overall that was produced. I'm dying to know what lenses they used for such a beautiful film. For attending this film and not being from Georgia I heard some positive and some negative feedback from other attendees of the film. Some people had a little struggle of how long the movie was... But in my eyes I feel that it's important for the movie to be longer because these people are in a tunnel for over a year and are struggling to survive.

Of course it is not a new "Schindler's List" as the protagonist is of a much smaller dedication in my opinion. This is not like "The Pianist", since the movie does not have the talent of Adrien Brody. I believe a lot of people including myself understand that it is not a GREAT movie.

But still it's full of emotions, regrets, memories that many of us don't want to accept actually. I am absolutely convinced that the military drama must keep some traces (conclusions) in reasonable people's minds. If a trace wasn't left, then, the filming team did not cope with the task. No doubts this film did cope. So the conclusion is pretty simple: it is not a great but a GOOD military drama about Poland, Nazis, genocide, horror, dignity and of course love.

I usually say about on-war movies that it is necessary to watch them, to remember and to be desperately willing (or to pray if you are a believer) to a similar never happens again. Never ever.

7 of 10

While there have been other movies dealing with Holocaust this one is unique in its complexity. It takes place in Lvov, town populated by a number of ethnic groups which had coexisted in an uneasy truce in a sort of a Tower of Babel which first the Russian and then the German occupations easily destroyed.

The mix of peoples is apparent by the mix of languages spoken: Polish, Yiddish, Ukrainian, German . The subtitles by the way are excellent and easy to follow.

The movie shows the risks involved in helping Jews under the German occupation a very important but often forgotten point. Heart wrenching scenes caused more than one person to wipe their tears in this Polish audience. The humanity of Socha the imperfect hero makes him one of the most heart warming characters that I recall.

This movie is a thriller, a morality tale and in some ways reminds one of a classic Western where honor, justice and love survive under most adverse circumstances.

Rating: 7/10

This is a commendable story but it is marred by a number of things. For one (as others have pointed out) there are far too many scenes focused in the darkness of the sewers where we just hear voices, glimpse obscured faces and see many rats scurrying about. None of this makes for engaging character development and it certainly does not add to the story-line. The only very well-played characters who give this movie strength are Robert Wiekiewicz (the sewer-man) and his wife. The other characters were ill-defined and seemed caricatures.

The plentiful darkened scenes beneath the city just serve to drag the film out and make it approach tediousness. The erotic scenes, of which there are quite a few, also detract with their titillation. Also in some of the close-ups, the characters inhabiting this underworld have surprisingly clean faces and well coiffed hair. In one episode, where they briefly emerge from the sewers, their clothes is surprisingly tatter-free and clean.

Some have compared this favourably to Schindler's List. I differ – the characters (aside from the two mentioned) are nowhere near the depth and impact, the storyline uneven and the film just too long.

I saw this movie at is world premier gala event at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I must admit that I grew up hearing stories from the script writer, David Shamoon, so I may have some bias to this film. As a novice critic, this is my review: In Darkness is a touching and moving film. This is not a war movie, and it is only partly a Holocaust story. This is a human story. The memoir of one of the survivors, who is portrayed in this film, inspired the book which found its way to David then to Hollywood. Any one who sees this or has any connection to the tragedies of the Second World War will be happy that this story was told. It is unique and not like any other film portrayal that I have ever seen. You must have a stomach for seeing what survival is like when portrayed on the silver screen. You will root for some characters, bit your nails as events unfold, and sigh with relief at numerous occasions. At the end of the film you will have something to talk about with those you watched it with and those you want to recommend it to. See this film and you will be happy that you did.

As a side note, the presentation of the film at TIFF was on 10th anniversary of 9/11 and I would think that TIFF organizers chose this evening and this presentation strategically. There was also a special surprise after the movie, the survivor/writer of the original memoirs cam to stage to thank those involved and present her grand daughters. It brought tears to the audience. I have never been to a movie premier with so much applause before even when big names like Clooney are in attendance.

The fate of Jews during World War II has seen wide depiction (sometimes too wide, in comparison with many other small nations persecuted and deported) in the movies of noted filmmakers; Agnieszka Holland is no exception here. Based on true events, the film focuses on Leopold Socha, a sewer worker in the then Polish city of Lwów who used his knowledge and of the city's sewer system and inventiveness to shelter a group of Jews escaped from the city ghetto. The script and the events seem logical and realistic, but they are difficult to follow at times as they are happening in dark environment, and faces-names can be easily confused. Perhaps that was the reason that leading actors were no distinctive to me - apart from Benno Fürmann as Mundek perhaps - and the triangle of suffering Jews / unpredictable Poles / sadistic Nazis was often too blunt. The length could have been shorter as well, some protracted scenes neither accentuated the mood nor provided additional value to the course of events.

All in all, W ciemności is good, but, in my opinion, Escape from Sobibor, The Pianist, and Die Fälscher, for example, have more novel approach and different angle to proceed. As for Holland herself, I find her Europa, Europa from 1991 better, i.e. more dynamic and versatile.

Academy Awards nominee for Best Foreign Movie (Poland) about the true story of a Catholic Polish sewer man who helped a group of Jews survive for over a year in the sewer system underneath the Jewish ghetto.

Excellent production design, good direction and good acting by the lead actor.

However, I didn't feel the writing was good enough to hold a 140-minutes movie. It would have worked better as a much shorter film.

Agnieszka Holland's older movie concerning the subject of the holocaust, "Europa, Europa (1990)" was much better, as far as I remember.

"These are my Jews, my work." This is the true story of a Polish soldier named Leopold Socha (Wieckiewicz) who risked his life in the 1940's in order to help a group of Jews escape death. His job as a soldier was to travel around the sewers of Lvov looking for people that are hiding and turn them in. After reaching a group they offer him money for him not to say anything. He returns often to get more of the bribery but eventually keeping them safe becomes about more then money. I am usually a sucker for true stories, especially ones that have a significant historical aspect to them. This one is very emotional as well as very inspirational. Much like "Schindler's List" and movies like that, this one really shows that no matter what your orders are humanity will ultimately win out and you will do whatever it takes to save a life. This movie really makes me want to learn more about this story and more about the reasons why this took place. Knowing nothing about this story I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen to both the Jews and Socha. The only real thing wrong with this movie is that it was pretty slow moving and a little repetitive. There were sometimes that I was looking at the clock and that took me out of the movie but it was still powerful enough to suck me back in. Overall, very emotional and inspirational and a movie that should be seen. I recommend this. I give it a B.

My last day in Savannah, I had the the misfortune of having to choose between seeing Lily Tomlin in person at a tribute/screening of "The Late Show" or seeing Agnieszka Holland's baity but promising Holocaust drama, "In Darkness." I chose the later with the hope that I would see Tomlin somewhere around town. I didn't spot her, but I am very pleased with my choice.

"In Darkness" tells the tale of Leopold Socha, a Catholic sewer worker in Lvov, Poland during the Nazi occupation. Along with his work partner, Socha (played magnificently by Robert Wieckiewicz) has begun breaking into the vacant homes of Jewish citizens that have been moved into the ghetto and stashing their valuables in the sewers for his own personal safekeeping. Meanwhile, as the Nazi's began their assault on the ghetto, a large group of Jews manage to dig down under their house and into the sewers where they are surprised by Socha just minutes after breaking through. Socha sees an opportunity to make some money and a deal is struck.

The audience is introduced to so many characters in the first half hour, it can be a bit difficult to know who you really need to focus on. Aside from the obvious lead, Socha, it soon becomes apparent who the other main players are and you form your attachments appropriately. While you see Socha as a loving husband and hard-working father right off the bat, how he takes advantage of the already desperate crowd he finds beneath the city showcases him as a bit less than a hero. Having him forced on you as the unlikely protagonist allows for a great evolution to play out. Wieckiewicz gives us a deeply nuanced turn as he we watch him learn both the impact he has had on those in the darkness and the impact they have had on him.

Visually, the movie is as dark as the name suggests. At least half of the film takes place in the sewers, thus evoking the proper sense of claustrophobia. A couple shots in particular felt nearly iconic to me; a woman in vivid blue running through the gray streets of the ghetto during the Nazi raid, Socha bringing a little girl up to the surface just enough to poke her head above the street. The production tips closer to minimalistic than lush, which works well under Holland's careful direction and in the bleak setting.

The movie is very powerful and carries a scholarly tone that should allow it to maintain a presence in the genre for years. As far as the Academy is concerned, this is a sure bet for a Best Foreign Language nomination (as Poland's submission) and a definite contender to take home the trophy. Wieckiewicz would have a place on my ballot as well as considerations for the film in Best Picture and several technical categories. This would be a great film for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival to add to their lineup.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Check out more reviews by Cameron McAllister at Reel Georgia - www.ReelGA.com

It's an obvious understatement to say that World War Two brought out the worst in people; but in some cases, it brought out the best, men like Oscar Schindler who, though of no previous special moral character, risked their own lives rather than be complicit in murder. Agnieszka Holland's 'In Darkness' tells a less celebrated tale, of a Polish sewer engineer who hid a family of Jews underground for a year and saved them from certain death by risking his own life. The broad boundaries of the tale are familiar: mixed motives, bravery, squalor, and a backdrop of near unimaginable horror. How to make this watchable is the next challenge, and Holland doesn't wholly succeed: there's not quite enough that is particular to this story to offset the general misery (to my mind, Polanski's 'The Pianist' remains the single most riveting film of the Holocaust, for exactly the reason that the story it tells is so personal). Still, there are gripping moments, especially where the hero is nearly accidentally betrayed by his daughter. And it's a reminder that some of us have been blessed, so far at least, not to live in interesting times.

I watched this 5 days ago, and still find it in my mind - in the middle of the night/ while shopping/ washing/ walking down the street.

I don't think I will ever forget it.

Film is dramatic, tense, witty, and above all haunting.

A remarkable film, there is nothing more I can say.

I would just add that the acting is really good.

The story breaks my heart.

The film makes vivid a story from our history, a history that should not ever be forgotten.

There is something compelling in remembering the Nazi atrocities, and also in viewing films about them.

Watching this film, I felt part of a shared experience - respecting and grieving all the people who died and suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

Poland has had a very tough luck at Oscars always, whenever the country comes up with some quality film it is overshadowed by something better. Similar is the case with IN DARKNESS who lost Oscar to A SEPARATION (IRAN).

"Another holocaust movie" is what one might think before watching this film but this movie turns out to be very different and depicts a different angle to the genocide in Poland.

The film boosted stellar performances from its entire cast, Robert Wieckiewicz gives an incredible performance as a sewer cleaning man who gives refuge to a group of Jews in sewer initially for money but ends up turning on their side and does everything in his control to protect them from the mass killing taking place over the sewer. The ensemble supporting cast was terrific and sincere to their respective roles.

The film was visually stunning, the dark and cold cinematography authentically elevates the mood and atmosphere of the film.

Agnieszka Holland succeeds in exploring the tragedy and the circumstances in which these Jews survived with utmost intensity. Though the sex in the film looks forced and the film could've done well without those explicit sex scenes, the film never disappoints you on the subject level and that's what really counts.

I could literally smell the grotesque sewer while watching the movie, it was unimaginable how these people kept themselves alive in such difficult time in such a place in constant fear.

Robert Marshall, the author of All the King's Men, collected the memoirs of survivors from the Ukrainian city of Lvov and combining them with his own research wrote a trying account of a group of Jews who spent 14 months in 1943-44 hiding in the city's sewer system. His book, "In the Sewers of Lvov: A Heroic Story of Survival from the Holocaust" recounts the lives of twenty people, including two children and a pregnant woman, descending into their own Inferno--the ledges, caverns, and underground rivers of the catacombs beneath the city streets. How they coped with the feces, the rats, the darkness, the deaths of half their numbers, even with delivery and infanticide, is an unbelievably cruel documentation of truth. Marshall dedicated his book to the memory of Leopold Socha, a former criminal who became a Ukrainian sewer worker and made it his life's atonement to save a few Jews out of the murdered millions. Tragically, soon after he was able to bring "his Jews" back to daylight, Socha was killed in an accident. This extraordinary story has been adapted for the screen by David F. Shamoon and is recreated for us by the genius of Agnieszka Holland's direction.

The film is dark not only in content but also in the lack of light: most of the two and a half hour film takes place in the underground sewers where little light is available. The acting is immensely fine - especially Robert Wieckiewicz as Leopold Socha, the Catholic, petty thief, dissolute Polish sewer worker who saved the lives of a dozen Jews by hiding them underground for 14 months, Kinga Preis as his sympathetic wife Wanda, Krzysztof Skonieczny as Socha's partner Szczepek (Socha and Szczepek began their desperate business knowing the Nazis would pay $500 for each Jew they turn in but they in turn bargain with conman Jewish leader Mundek (Benno Fürmann) and for an even steeper price, they provide food and other resources to the underground Jews living in the sewers. The actors who portray the Jews - adults and children - are equally superb. The cinematography is by Jolanta Dylewska and the spare but touching musical score is by Antoni Lazarkiewicz.

Though Holland takes us through the terror and misery these people suffered, she adds at the end of the film some facts that are appalling. In addition to offering the numbers of the Jews slaughtered during the war and the eventual division of lands and homes destroyed by the Nazis, she adds some facts that are heartwarming, such as in 1978, Socha and his wife were awarded the title "Righteous among the Nations" by Yad Vashem in Israel.

This is a very powerful film, brilliant in every aspect and one that deserves very wide attention to the peoples of the world. In Polish, Ukrainian, Yiddish, German with English subtitles.

Grady Harp

So many Holocaust movies: "Schindler's List," "The Reader," "Shoah," "Europa Europa."

I knew "In Darkness" would be frightening, depressing, and disturbing.

So, I didn't want to watch "In Darkness."

Big mistake. "In Darkness" is a masterpiece. It's better than "Schindler's List." Yes, it is disturbing to watch, but it is great art, and great art, even as it moves us to tears, rewards us. You already know about the horrors of the Holocaust. The gift of "In Darkness" is that it transports the viewer to a better realm, where the best of humanity shines in the worst darkness we humans have produced. That best of humanity is not just Socha, the rescuer, but the filmmakers who, through their art, tell the world Socha's story.

"In Darkness" has a verisimilitude, indeed a "darkness," that other Holocaust films do not. No one in this movie would look appropriate placed on a pedestal. Everyone here – Jews and rescuers – is a deeply flawed human being. The Jews hiding in the sewers look and act the way people hiding in sewers would look – filthy, hungry, and bedraggled; they are sometimes petty, jealous, and vengeful. The film is dark and claustrophobic. The Nazis are not sexy and thrilling. They are murderous scum. Not only do characters speak Polish, Yiddish, German, Ukrainian, and Russian, where appropriate, they also spoke Balak, a dialect typical of Poles living in Lwow. Krystyna Chiger, who survived the sewer, said she found the film so real it was hard to watch.

None of the actors are well known outside of Poland or Germany, so I was able to invest in them as the characters they were playing in a way that I could never invest in "Schindler's List," which, of course, featured big stars I'd seen in other films – Ralph Fiennes, the handsome lover from "The English Patient," was suddenly giving an Oscar-bait performance as a fat Nazi; Ben Kingsley was no longer Gandhi, but a Jew in a concentration camp.

Robert Wieckiewicz as Leopold Socha gives one of the very best, most absorbing, most believable film performances I have ever seen. Wieckiewicz is utterly believable as a petty thief who makes one right choice that leads him onto a path that awakens his soul. He starts out as a rough guy, an opportunist, who isn't ready to be as cruel as life invites him to be. The Nazis are paying bonuses to anyone who turns in Jews. Socha, already a petty criminal, who had initially helped Jews for money, could have made the choice to hand Jews over to the Nazis, for even more money. He didn't. He decided to do the next kind thing. And the next. And the next. And he becomes of the most moving, heroic people you will ever see on screen. If Socha's entirely believable transformation doesn't make you cry … you are tougher than I am.

Benno Furmann is especially memorable as Mundek Margulies, one of the Jews who escapes to the sewers. Furmann has pale blue eyes that shine out intensely in the dark sewer scenes, communicating outrage, sorrow, panic, and caged macho. The tense dynamic between him and Socha electrifies their scenes. Theirs is a male-male relationship utterly beyond what any current Hollywood "buddy" movie could hope to portray.

Kinga Preis is quietly moving as Wanda Socha, Leopold's plump and freckled, earth-goddess wife. Maria Schrader as one of the Jewish women in hiding adds poignancy without doing anything showy. Michal Zurawski as Bortnik, a Ukrainian who does the dirty work for the Nazis, is very handsome sickening, and terrifying. You can see that Socha could have turned out like his old friend Bortnik. But, somehow, he didn't. Why? Because Bortnik was Ukrainian, not Polish – and thus treated differently by the Nazis? Because Bortnik was more handsome? We don't know. We just get the sense that before he made the one choice that set him on a path that would turn him into a beast, Bortnik was probably much like his old pal, Socha.

"In Darkness" is a feature film, not history lesson or a documentary, but for this viewer it dramatized aspects of the Holocaust, and of humanity, that other Holocaust films have failed to adequately address, or to address at all.

I've never seen a film that brought home to me so vividly the mass killings of Poles that Nazis carried out. Of course I know about these killings, but, as Joseph Stalin allegedly said, "One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." "In Darkness" depicts a mass hanging of randomly selected Polish civilians, killed in retaliation for the death of a German. This scene was orchestrated in such a way that it grabbed me as dry statistics on the page never have.

"In Darkness" defies revisionist histories of World War Two that insist that Poles did nothing to help Jews and that Poles were enjoying the high life during the Nazi occupation. "In Darkness" makes clear – Nazis treated Poles with special brutality. Dramatic tension is never lost, even as the viewer learns something he would never learn from something like "Schindler's List."

"In Darkness" focuses on a Pole who rescued Jews. This defies popular uses of the Brute Polak stereotype to rewrite World War Two history.

Never for one minute, though, does "In Darkness" stop being a big, involving, tense, movie-movie. You care about the characters. You are swept along by the action. You hold your breath during scenes of suspense. You root for success. You tear up when things go wrong. After all that has gone before, the final scene, as humble as it is, is overwhelming. This is just a great film. See it.