Movie No. 100 (2013): IN DARKNESS

In Darkness (2011)
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Cast: Robert Wieckiewicz, Agnieszka Grochowska, Herbert Knaup

In darkness was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category of 2012 Academy Awards. It should have won, in my humble opinion.

Based on real events during the Holocaust, In Darkness is the story of an opportunist Catholic named Leopold Socha and of a group of Jews that he kept in the sewers (for a fee) for fourteen months to escape the wrath of the Nazis.

It all started as a purely business transaction between opportunist Socha and the Jews when Socha stumbled upon these group of Jews who were trying to escape the liquidation of the Ghetto in Lvov, Poland. Socha was a reformed thief, who now worked in the sewers. He knew the ins and outs of the labyrinthine, filthy, and rat-infested underground world. He kept the Jews in sewers; he also provided for them food and other necessities. All these would be for a fee. At one point the Jews ran out of cash. What would Socha do? Well, you should see the film to know how it presents such horrible events in the history of humanity, how such grim events present opportunity for redemption, and the tenacity of human to the will to survive. The director presents this without too much sentimentality and melodrama. The fact that these events really happened is enough to be really glued to every carefully composed scenes that inspire grief, cringing, anger, and, eventually, hope.

The movie is as powerful as Schindler's List. In fact, in my opinion, this is (barely) a better film.

Rating: 4.0/4.0

Date seen: April 21, 2013