Movie No. 68 (2013): KATYN
Das Massaker von Katyn (a.k.a. Katyn) (2007)
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Andrzej Chyra, Maja Ostaszewska
In Polish and Russian, with English subtitles
This film was nominated for Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film in 2008 (for films shown in 2007). The film used as template the conventional narrative and documentary styles of film making. This worked well since the film was been based on a real event - the massacre of more than 22,000 Polish officers and professionals by the Russian Red Army and the subsequent organized cover-up.
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Andrzej Chyra, Maja Ostaszewska
In Polish and Russian, with English subtitles
This film was nominated for Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film in 2008 (for films shown in 2007). The film used as template the conventional narrative and documentary styles of film making. This worked well since the film was been based on a real event - the massacre of more than 22,000 Polish officers and professionals by the Russian Red Army and the subsequent organized cover-up.
The film's cinematic merits are based mostly on having it told mostly on the point of view of the bereaved families (without melodrama and being too sentimental), of those who got killed in the massacre (based on their journals and unsent letters), and of the pawns of the conspiracy to blame the massacre on the Nazis instead of the Russia's Red Army. I have to mention also the excellent cinematography (that complemented and really captured the tension and fear in the air, the cold-blooded massacre being performed) and the costume design (that can really transport the audience to that period) to have contributed to the film's greatness.
Rating: 4.0/4.0
Date seen: March 28, 2013
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