In Darkness (2011/Sony Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: B-     Films: B

 

 

Making a film about The Holocaust and WWII genocide is very difficult to do effectively, as Schindler’s List continues to hold up and be as relevant as ever, but there are many more stories to be told.  In part because genocide and anti-Semitism continue to sadly endure and even grow, the best films remind us that this is nothing new and the world experienced this often, explicitly and yet, it goes on.

 

Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness (2011) is the latest such film as the famed director revisits these themes and this ugly history as we go to Poland as the Nazis are about to invade in one of their most infamous campaigns in the City of Lvov.  A sewer worker named Leopold Soha (Robert Wieckiewicz) finds himself in the middle of the invasion when some of the Polish Jews hiding in buildings find they have to go somewhere else and not being able to escape, go to the sewers so they are not exterminated.  At first, Leopold accepts money from them to hide them, but as things get uglier and darker, he changes his mind and decides he needs to do this for more than personal gain.

 

There are some ugly scenes, some suspenseful scenes and some amazing work all around in telling this tale.  It is just too easy to forget how bad this was and gives us one of the too few inside cinematic views of what happened in Poland, drama, documentary or otherwise.  The cast is amazing and I was surprised this worked so well since it is easy to find problems relaying what this time and moment was like.  It is also visually compelling, something we are not seeing in most productions of late, but the film finds its own style and it fells and looks real, even with style choices that help the narrative instead of wrecking it.

 

This received much critical acclaim and deserves much more, so I am very happy Sony has issued this in such a fine Blu-ray.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is top rate with nice depth, detail and Director of Photography Jolanta Dylewska (Made In Poland) has some of the most unique darker footage I have seen in a while.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is always active with even the most subtle sound in its consistent soundfield.  It is also well recorded, well mixed and the score by Antoni Komasa-Lazarkiewicz is never overbearing and well matched to the story.

 

Extras include two featurettes: An Evening With Director Agnieszka Holland’s and In Light – A Conversation with Director Agnieszka Holland and real life survivor Krystyna Chiger.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo