Reviews

I saw this film on Australian cable tv. It's a marvellous film with fantastic performances, especially from the children. If it was actually in Polish with subtitles, I imagine it would have received a lot more notice - which is sad because apart from the casting of Willem Dafoe and Haley Joel Osment, everything else is European - but to remove them would be travesty, as their performances are flawless, and I have no trouble believing that both could have spoken in Polish for their roles if called for. As a decendant myself of WW2 era Polish catholics, the depiction of the German soldiers and their treatment of the villagers also rang true - a reminder for people today that every person who was different was a victim of hate during those terrible years of Nazi rule.

A VH1 telemovie, and it's written like a VH1 telemovie - but the reason to see this film is for the performances, especially those of James Franco and Glenn Quinn. Ignore the storyline and admire the actors.

Fans of Glenn Quinn should be forewarned that there are a couple of scenes that are quite difficult to watch.