Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: In Darkness/W Ciemności (2011)

11/09/2015

In Darkness/W Ciemności (2011) - Holland's grueling Holocaust masterpiece

♥♥♥♥♥♥

2 Time Film Excess Award Winner:

Best Director: Agnieszka Holland
Best Supporting Actress: Agnieszka Grochowska

6 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Film (lost to The Descendants)
Best Director: Agnieszka Holland (won)
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Wieckiewicz (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Supporting Actress: Agnieszka Grochowska (won)
Best Cinematography: Jolenta Dylewska (lost to Phedon Papamichael for The Descendants)
Best Costumes: Jagna Janicka, Katarzyna Lewinska (lost to Mildred Pierce)

+ Best Polish Movie of the Year
+ Best War Movie of the Year

Two strong photos are spliced together on the poster for Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness

We are in the then Polish town Lvov during World War II, as the Jews of the town are being killed or driven away. A group of them manages to buy entrance into the town's sewer system, where they for months live through extreme trials, while the war rages above.

This authentic story works as simultaneously a horrific WWII document and a tremendously compelling survival drama. It strikes hard at once and grips its audience with its very potent, visceral strength until the last frame. Jolenta Dylewska (Made in Poland (2010)) conducted the great cinematography.
In Darkness is impressively big, detailed and emotionally harrowing and overwhelming. Robert Wieckiewicz (Walesa: Man of Hope/Walesa. Czlowiek z Nadziei (2013)) is eminent as the sewer worker who helps the Jews, and Agnieszka Grochowska (Child 44 (2015)) is striking as the pregnant woman among the group.
In Darkness inspires inevitable comparisons to Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Schindler's List (1993). This film is just as good, but has less Hollywood to it, - none, that is!
In Darkness is written by David F. Shamoon, based on Robert Marshall's In The Sewers of Lvov, and directed by Polish master filmmaker Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa (1990)).
Don't miss this important masterpiece!

Related posts:

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Robert Wieckiewicz gives one of the year's top performances in Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness

Watch the trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 9.9 mil. $
= Uncertainty
[In Darkness was shot in January - April 2010 as a Polish-German-Canadian co-production. The only remaining survivor of the Lvov sewer Jews is Krystya Chiger, who has written of the experience in her memoir, The Girl in the Green Sweater: A Life in Holocaust's Shadow (2008). The book was published too late to be a source for the film, but Chiger has since met with and lauded Holland for her portrayal. In Darkness was Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Film, losing to A Separation (2011). It grossed 1 mil. $ (10.1 % of the total gross) in North America. Its biggest two markets were its native Poland (6.4 mil. $/64.6 %) and Peru (1.8 mil. $/18.2 %). In Darkness is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.6 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In Darkness?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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11/09/2015

In Darkness/W Ciemności (2011) - Holland's grueling Holocaust masterpiece

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