Katyn

Glossily shot with a harrowing final scene, but the movie lacks dramatic shape as characters drift in and out without really driving the plot or themes forward.

The history of the Katyn massacre is disturbing and powerful, but crippled severely in the film by incoherent storytelling. Historical background is rarely explained, characters appear seemingly out of nowhere, often giving no clue whatsoever how they fit into the storyline, and then disappear just as suddenly; also, the decision to leave the key part of the story for the very last minutes results in very awkward chronology. If you're not familiar with Polish history, prepare to be confused.

It's all very confusing if you don't know this part of Polish history. I suggest you read up about the Katyn massacre before watching. The ending is powerful though.

Another war movie. Oh, but how different it is. Set in the days of WW2, "Katyn" tells the tragic story of war-time Poland and its citizens. Even though most Westerners associate the end of WW2 as a highly joyous occasion that marks the end of oppression, this is not the case for Katyn's heroes. To them, an even worse fate - the Soviet occupation - lies ahead. As usual, Andzhej Wajda provides great directing, a captivating story and an ending one will hardly forget.

A good if not spectacular account of the Katyn massacre of Polish officers by the Red Army. Differs from such as Der Weisse Band in that characterisation is developed only to service the brutality of historical detail. Deals intelligently with the crime itself and the fallout through a single family group.

The history is undeniably powerful, but the characters are poorly introduced and come across as symbols instead of people.

82.500

Great camerawork and score, but too much perspective jumping. I didn't have time to really start caring about characters until they disappeared for half an hour.

Most of the individual storylines feel a bit too fragmented to form a strong whole, but the overall experience was still haunting. I appreciated the film more in hindsight than during my viewing. Those final minutes were absolutely horrifying.

Probably there's a movie made on every aspect of the WWII. Most of them are very formulaic, and usually depicts life of some war hero. Realism is successfully avoided, especially by epic Hollywood productions. This film is completely different, but not without it's own problems. Biggest of them lies in the fact that it was made thinking that everyone already knows the history, and only scraps of it are used in the story. It's almost impossible to follow the storyline as it is presented.

10 Nisan 08, 16:00, atlas1 sira8 koltuk13, 27.ist. film fest. & film genel olarak iyi fakat bazi zamanlarda karakterleri karistirabiliyorsunuz.senaryoda alti-yedi birbirinden bagimsiz -yada bagimli- karakter olmasi, bir sure sonra kafanizda olayi olusturmanizi engelliyor.film sonu, kan dondurucu bir gerceklikle gosteriliyor ve oyunculuklar da fena degil.tek takdir ettigim tarafi buydu.

"As definitive withdrawal from Iraq inches ever nearer into our finger-crossed view, elliptical confrontation of military trauma is once again becoming fashionable in American cinema houses." - Joseph Jon Lanthier

Too long and confused in the middle. Characters are introduced and killed off in a matter of minutes without time to develop and make me actually care about them. Final scene is very powerful and makes up for the rest of the muddled mess.

It's a story of personal legends -- unknown soldiers and civilians. As Wajda deliberately unravels their various narrative strands, like a desperately ripped flag, a national tragedy doesn't cease; it haunts.

84.500

Director Wajda dispenses with sentimentality, using restraint to tell the story from various viewpoints, including that of Anna (Ostaszewska), who's searching for her husband Andrzej (Zmijewski), who's in an internment camp and destined to be killed; Jerzy (Chyra), a guilt-ridden survivor; and two sisters (Cielecka, Glinska) who take opposite stances in the postwar Soviet regime.

To hell with Schindler and all the piss-poor self proclaimed american adaptations of world history - this feels real, honest and most importantly - it draws attention to universal issues in the modern world. Nevertheless it lacks concentration and some of the characters feels unnecessary.