In Darkness

[Beate]

And it was funny seeing you sit in it, you looked like Hermione sitting in Hagrid's chair with your feet dangling inches off the floor.

Yeah, I had to find a slouching position so my feet could reach the ground, LOL. OH was complaining at the beginning that the seats were stiff and unmovable, I don't like that either, but it's either that or a lot less legroom further down.

Everything you said about the technical aspects of the film disturbed me too, it was like a guessing game who was who and doing what (or who!)

[redgrant]

I did approach this one with trepidation. After being fed on light and fluffy fare like the Muppets and This Means War recently, watching a 2 and 1/2 hour German/Polish war film with harrowing subject matter was always going to be quite a change!

It was good, but a bit too long. And it didn't grip you like Schindler's List. But I did especially like the constant shift between the overground and dark underground scenes. It was a unique cinematic experience in that respect, almost like a diver coming up for air for a few minutes, only to go back down into the sewers again. And it was refreshing for the characters from all quarters to be flawed rather than black and white - from the lead to the adulterous Jewish prisoner.

[raj101]

yes the children were the only characters who werent flawed badly in some way. Not like todays grumpy emo £100 a shopping trip spending kids then lol.

[yogi]

A staggering story, powerful throughout and you really get a sense of the claustrophobic environment. I also liked how all the characters weren't totally black and white.

But nothing really prepares you for the text just before the credits..
[spoiler]For Socha to die so soon after everyone came out, and then get abuse shouted at his funeral left me stunned, sad and angry.
"As if we need God to punish each other" - how true.[/spoiler]
In Darkness the title refers as much to the darkness the people hid in as the dark stain on human history of that time.

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

A staggering story, powerful throughout and you really get a sense of the claustrophobic environment. I also liked how all the characters weren't totally black and white.

But nothing really prepares you for the text just before the credits..
[spoiler]For Socha to die so soon after everyone came out, and then get abuse shouted at his funeral left me stunned, sad and angry.
"As if we need God to punish each other" - how true.[/spoiler]
In Darkness the title refers as much to the darkness the people hid in as the dark stain on human history of that time.

[spoiler]You know, I saw absolutely no sense in having that particular piece of text at the end. They mention its "someone" at the funeral...who the hell is it? Did that person represent the whole gathering at the funeral? What has he/she got anything to do with this story? What are the film makers trying to achieve giving us some random person's verbal abuse that likely did not represent anyone else's? Dire dire forced manipulation that is totally unnecessary giving all that has happened in the story. Is the film trying to fuel aggression in its audience or something? Or do they just want to have an excuse to put up on the screen "As if we need God to punish each other" as if they thought that was a great poetic line to end with. Dreadful closing text (not about the what happens to everyone, just about the whole funeral thing). Oh and I am not getting at you Yogi, your reaction is totally justifiable, its the underlying incentive behind those closing credits that I am questioning.[/spoiler]

[weirdfilms33]

I saw this at Wimbledon and found it to be a difficult but profound experience. I loved how it singled out one man in the wider context of the Holocaust and focused on his actions alone. It did drag at times, but a very good film nonetheless. Here's my review, although it doesn't go into much detail:

http://jacobthehobnob.wordpress.com/201 ... -darkness/

8/10

[tarantinoed]

[spoiler]I think the statement about what someone said at the funeral was just an example making clear something that the film highlighted but didn't overemphase to death: that relatively few Polish catholics sympathised with what was happening to the Jews under the Nazis or tried to help them. The situation was better, for instance, in the occupied Netherlands.[/spoiler]

Personally, I was glad it was so dark underground - it meant you saw less of the sewage!

[ejwrank]

We saw this a Holloway and it was a very harrowing film. Husband said he found it hard to keep track of who was who -- probably because of the lack of light in most of the film and we both thought it was too long but still agreed it was a well made film and worth seeing.

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

[spoiler]I think the statement about what someone said at the funeral was just an example making clear something that the film highlighted but didn't overemphase to death: that relatively few Polish catholics sympathised with what was happening to the Jews under the Nazis or tried to help them. The situation was better, for instance, in the occupied Netherlands.[/spoiler]

Personally, I was glad it was so dark underground - it meant you saw less of the sewage!

That's a plus point I overlooked!

[spoiler]I will find it very hard to believe only few Polish Catholics sympathised. Just because most didnt help the jews, doesnt mean they didnt sympathise. If it were any nation, the exact same thing will happen, the non Jewish sector would be largely in fear of helping the Jewish under such a terrifying Nazi occupation. I think I would be. I would like to think I am brave and would help but in reality I may just be to terrified and go about my own business and keep my life and family safe. The film did a good job in reflecting that actually. The hero was initially an insensitive burglar taking advantage of them. He became a hero because he got involved with them and moral conscience got the better of him as well as incredible bravery. Others may have been compelled to have done so too if they were at that kind of conjuction. His wife fearfully disapproved too but even she felt compelled to help them when nudged into a state of moral conscience, bravely risking her's and her child's life too.

So it puzzles me why the film has to put such an statement at the end which in my view incites an unnecessary dislike for the Polish Catholics. All it served was to detract my reflective thoughts on what the film was thus far emphasising (ie the Jewish faith, the suffering, the nazi atrocities, the fearful bystanders). What a childish piece of en credits, pointing a finger at the Polish Catholics. Does it really serve any point to highlight one person's ignorance (who I believe do not represent the majority) to look upon Polish Catholics as an uncaring community? NO. Sorry for the rambling! But I really hate the underlying subtext of that end credit.[/spoiler]

[Beate]

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/films/in-da ... 44879.html