![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2012\/02\/Aindarkness-300x198.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cIn Darkness\u201d tells the World War II story of a dozen Jewish men, women and children who hide in the sewers of the former Polish city of Lvov.<\/p><\/div>\n
Based on the actual experiences of Polish Jews, like her mentor Andrzej Wajda\u2019s \u201cKorczak\u201d and Roman Polanski\u2019s \u201cThe Pianist,\u201d Holland\u2019s film traces the evolving arrangement between an amoral Polish sewer worker and the dozen or so Jews he agrees to hide underground and feed \u2014 for a price \u2014 after the liquidation of the ghetto of Lvov (now Lviv, in Ukraine).<\/p>\n
Its enormous historical value and exceptional artistic merits aside, \u201cIn Darkness\u201d represents an opportunity to acknowledge and reduce the tension between Poles and Jews surrounding the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of hidden guilt among the Poles, and from the Jewish side a feeling of deep betrayal,\u201d Holland said in a recent phone interview. \u201cSo the Jews were much angrier with the Poles than they were with the Germans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lingering and unresolved ill will on both sides stemmed from a fundamental difference in perception: The Poles saw themselves as victims of Nazi brutality, and as occasional rescuers of the Jews. To most Jews, the Poles were collaborators or, at best, opportunists.<\/p>\n
At some point in \u201cIn Darkness,\u201d the compromised, erstwhile hero \u2014 sewer worker and thief Leopold Socha \u2014 fulfills every one of those roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot heal the relationship, but I can open people\u2019s hearts and minds,\u201d Holland said. \u201cThe moment when the anti-Semitism stops is when you see the human being in the Jew, and when the Jew can see the human being in the Pole, it\u2019s a step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Darkness,\u201d an Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film (along with Israeli director Joseph Cedar\u2019s \u201cFootnote\u201d), opens in Bay Area theaters Feb. 24, two days before the Oscars show.<\/p>\n
Holland\u2019s father was Jewish, and she previously explored anti-Semitism, morality and survival in her amazing, epic 1990 film \u201cEuropa Europa.\u201d So the 60-something director, whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes episodes of various HBO series, was well aware that she was re-entering dark, challenging territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you go deep into this subject \u2014 I read a lot of documents new to me, because I wasn\u2019t so familiar with this situation in Lvov \u2014 it\u2019s a painful process,\u201d she confided. \u201cIt\u2019s in your dreams. It makes you depressed. Doing a movie like that influences your entire system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Darkness\u201d opened in Poland in January to ticket sales that surprised Holland and her producers. Moreover, she reports, the audience was mostly young.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time the Poles didn\u2019t want to face the truth about some parts of the truth, but in the last 10 years it changed quite quickly with the publication of some books,\u201d Holland explained. \u201cSome younger Polish historians are extremely honest about the subject. It worked out a lot of very painful emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effect is most noticeable among the next generation, Holland says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are speaking to young Polish people today, they are really interested in the truth,\u201d she declared. \u201cAnother side effect is many more of them see the Righteous Among the Nations as heroes. There was a time when they had to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Darkness\u201d opens Feb. 24 at the Embarcadero in San Francisco, Albany Twin in Albany, Guild in Menlo Park, Century 5 in Pleasant Hill, Santana Row in San Jose and Regency in San Rafael. It opens March 3 at Camera 3 in San Jose.<\/p>\n
Definitely worth a trip a movies!<\/p>\n
Do nast<\/strong>\u0119pnego razu… <\/strong>(Till next time…)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the last few decades, German and French filmmakers \u2014 reflecting, and in some cases, bravely advancing national attitudes \u2014 have examined the Holocaust with blunt candor and shades-of-gray maturity. Polish director Agnieszka Holland\u2019s beautifully made and profoundly responsible \u201cIn Darkness\u201d represents a rare cinematic attempt to address the Poles\u2019 unhappy participation in World War…<\/p>\n
Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,10166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2819","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-current-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2819"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2824,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819\/revisions\/2824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2012\/02\/Aindarkness.jpg\")
<\/a>