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.
Review of In Darkness
