Poklosie (2012) watch online HD

I feel sad for the review where one feels attacked and is explaining at length how this movie makes all Polish anti-semites. This is merely silly of course. History doesn't change by denying it. Painful but true, who ever survived the German camps and made it back was to find everything taken from them. It's a part of history and nobody has to be offended when movies are based on our gruesome events. It's no generalization.

About the movie: excellent cast, excellent story build up and absolutely worth your time. Even for those not interested in the historical part. While the story unfolds there is a intense sense of claustrophobia as the small town has to let go of generations old secrets. Daring script and great pacing.

Contrary to what other people might say, this film is not (all) about Polish resentment towards Jews. As stated in the summary, it tackles another vice: every human's unconditional reflex to do just about anything to avoid pleading guilty.

As it happens, something bad - a euphemism I'm using instead of a more precise spoiler - happened to a group of Jewish inhabitants of a town lost in the Polish countryside. It was during WWII, times were tough, everyone wanted to survive. Plus, better strange "them" than familiar "us".

A myriad excuses boiled down to one act of violence after which the town went back to post-war normalcy. People were born as usual, grew food all working week, went to church on Sundays, died. The cycle of life seemed unbroken, save for that nuisance from, as the movie's events take place around the year 2000, over 50 years ago. And no good can come from pondering about it.

The film's two protagonists learn about it the hard way. They are two brothers, one of whom has just come back after living for 20 years in the USA. Surprisingly, his mentality remained unchanged there. Contrary to that, his younger brother, who stayed in their backwater little town, had undergone a curious transformation: he started asking questions about mysterious stone tablets lying in the mud here and there.

To say that the acting is solid is an understatement. While perhaps not top-notch effort from all of the cast, overall it's nearly as good as it gets. You can expect stellar performances from a handful of elderly actors playing tertiary characters, as well as from Ireneusz Czop, one of the two main characters. The writing is fine: conversations seem natural, and there are a few very powerful monologues.

So, if „Poklosie" is such a well-acted and written movie with good cinematography, music and editing – if there is nothing wrong with it, why not more than 7/10 from me? My only real problem with it is that when it comes to symbolism, the director hammed it up. I mean, the burning building, the dark forest, the good priest's heart attack at that particular moment, the rain, the way a person dies in the movie … come on. Way too dramatic, I say. Fear not, though, as most of my uneasiness comes from the fact that I seriously can't stand overly symbolic images. If you're not particular about them (think moderated Independence Day) – forget what I said. Just find and watch this film, I highly recommend it.

Two more things. First, the movie's title means „The Reaping", as in „Harvest", but also „Consequences". My suggestion for the English title would be „What You Sow".

Second, „Poklosie" is based on true events. Not, and I mean it, NOT like some cheap horror story. Something very similar to what is unveiled in this film really happened in at least one place in Poland during World War II. Hard to imagine, hard to stomach. Hard to remember.

Not too long ago, many were slaughtered, and there was a fraction that got all the attention and the blame. The problem is that there were parties that just stood by while others committed these crimes and/or either approved or even participated in their execution. The film explores how there was more to history than we have been exposed to, that the horrors were worse than anything we could imagine, and the devil shows his ugly face in more than one way.

Two brothers find themselves at the heart of the story, which begins as a some type of thriller/conspiracy the likes of which we have seen before. For a while the spirit of "Chinatown" comes to mind, and a beautifully crafted film slowly unfurls a narrative where the mystery expands, the cast of the dueling parties grows as new layers are revealed, and eventually the film combines elements seen in old fashioned thrillers, horror movies, and even a touch of noir here and there.

What takes the film to a higher category is that what we see here has basis on real historical events, and as we realize this, our souls hurt because the pain is too much, and it might be that there is the possibility that we can become one of the parties involved. After all, free will has always been at the core of the worst human decisions in history. Either we want to destroy, to save, or to remain quiet and allow the evils to continue and grow. Liars have for years assisted those who either killed or stole, and they condoned quietly the actions of others by not interfering.

Films like these makes us remember how ignorant we are, in many different degrees by either not learning enough, not being willing to change and by not facing what really exists in our own souls.

It is said that history cannot be buried under the ground. It always comes out of its own accord in the future to talk about the past. This is something which viewers witness in "Aftermath" which has been set as a fast paced thriller. The story is told through the turbulent lives of two brothers Franek and Jozek who experience how their peaceful life in a small polish village is completely transformed once they come across some horrible secrets involving murders of their Jewish neighbors during second world war. Pasikowski's film succeeds from the beginning as it fights against a lot of clichés. Firstly, it is absolutely harsh against the belief that let the secrets remained buried as it would be in the interest of everybody if their currently status quo is maintained and not disturbed in future. This is not something which Kalina brothers are willing to accept readily as it was not on their minds to let the secrets be buried. They were fully aware of consequences they would have to face if they went ahead with their scheme of unearthing secrets. In this manner, Kalina brothers-Franek and Jozef make it explicitly clear that truth must come out regardless of the anguish and pain it might cause to anybody who is not able to digest it. Although the villagers are not shown in a negative light but director Pasikowski is upright when he shows that there is a lot of resentment in the minds of local people about its inhabitants who have left for USA. The role of church as depicted in this film is rather ambiguous as the local priest chose to remain neutral at a time when a lot could have been done by him to assuage sufferings. The religious angle gets prominence when the younger brother sacrifices himself in the same manner as Jesus Christ to atone for sins committed by his father. It is rather unfortunate that upon its release in Poland, Aftermath was embroiled into unnecessary controversy. One fail to understand what led some Polish people to accuse this film of being an anti Polish propaganda. Lastly, as freedom of expression is needed to understand the greatness of all works of art, it is hoped that the ban on "Aftermath" in some Polish cinemas would soon be lifted.

There were 5-6 MILLION Jews killed in the Holocaust. So the one reviewer saying "This movie's theme has been done to death. If you've seen one third Reich movie you've seen them all more or less." and it has been "82 years since this happened...five movies per year done" about this horrible near-extermination. Are you kidding me? If you took only 5,000,000 Jewish lives and divided it by 82 years that would be 60,000+ thousand movies that NEED to be made per year about any and all horrific acts these monsters caused.

My review about this movie...it's not a thriller. It's a puzzle. It's an in-depth thought provoking movie that every person alive needs to see. Santayana wrote (in The Life of Reason, 1905) "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I had no idea this happened in many cities and villages throughout Europe and beyond. IF these stories are not told, even on the simplest terms, our children and future generations are condemned to repeat it. The movie may be a slow go but it is a well acted and well written movie with a haunting soundtrack.

God help the souls who choose to forget the past. We have a very real evil living among us and this could certainly happen again, at any moment.

This is a very good movie. Deeply tragic, terribly honest, unbearably truthful, impossibly merciless. he very topic of Holocaust has been closely watched, studied and discussed, but here we do not have the scale of Spielberg's Schindler's List, or bare wound of Polanski's Pianist. Here we see a minor case, nevertheless, not a bit less painful or decent. The story of two Kalina brothers in a small Polish village (which is shown so vividly and so exact) seems to be a bit slow at first, but then the tempo of the film gets faster, the events get more and more tragic, and people become more and more horrible. This is a fictitious village, but the story itself is of Jedwabne origin, with local population taking part in killing all local Jews just to be commended by Nazis. The very fact that the movie was prohibited in some Polish Gminy (regions), and harshly attacked by nationalists shows how very true it is and how precisely it hit the tee. Ireneusz Czop as Franciszek Kalina, Maciej Stuhr as Józef Kalina, brother of Franciszek, Jerzy Radziwiłowicz as the rector, Zuzana Fialová as Justyna, granddaughter of Sudecki, Andrzej Mastalerz as Janusz Pawlak, Zbigniew Zamachowski as police Sgt. Włodzimierz Nowak, Danuta Szaflarska as the elderly herbalist

• all these actors did a marvelous and very deep performance, and the very core of the problem is shown extremely well. Thye final discovery is so tragic for Kalina Brothers, so bad, so terrible to know, that one of them cannot bear the truth anymore, and the other does what he really has to. The final scene with Jewsish relatives of murdered locals is deeply sad, touching, and really great. I highly recommend this excellent film and commend it 10 out of 10. This is a superb work of Wladyslaw Pasikowski - he did his real best.

Good Day, I registered to IMDb for the first time, just for this title... This is very important moment of polish history and very important movie to understand this history. I must confess first that I'm from family very close connected to connected to WWII Underground Home Army in Warsaw. Is someone has something to say about ghettos in Warsaw and Nazi occupation, my family was part of it from creating opposition to lost life in Auschwitz. My uncle died in Auschwitz for being family of important man before 1939. He was 16 years old boy. Pole, not Jew. Whole my family was destined to die in Auschwitz, but managed to avoid it, except my young uncle... Back to movie. My family was in Warsaw, was in underground and... was helping Jews in Ghetto and I also have Jew family (and proud of it). It was very hard to believe that Jedwabne and similar facts happened, especially for my grand dad, but... Even thought he was victim of denunciation, he was also victim of small peasant communities; like Jedwabne. He had to pay to not be arrested by Gestapo and he had to pay with family precious relics and everything he had. Just because peasants knew who he was. And he had to eat. Probably we will never know how many people died because of mentality of people like in "Poklosie"... Creators of "Poklosie" including actors are "enemy of the state", but many people still remember who made money for deaths. Yes, I know, it's short and not important comment, but if you know how less popular version of polish history looked like - watch the movie. No, it was not always like this - this is why most Israelis has polish roots, but we should remember of German, French, Dutch, French, Russian and other people who helped Nazis just for money.

No comment. you just have to see this movie, no matter what you think. With Kind Regards, B. Radziszewski

I have become increasingly interested in films and books that address the topic of Polish anti-Semitism. Initially, I approached the topic defensively. How, I wondered, did France and Italy get so conveniently off the hook in the post war years, when the capitulation and collaboration with the Nazis that occurred in those countries is indisputable? Poland's government was the only one that did not capitulate to the Nazis during World War II, and that is part of the reason Warsaw was reduced to rubble. Nazi punishment for Poles during the war was exceptionally harsh; whole families were put to death for harboring Jews.

Aftermath, directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski, is another example of a new generation of Polish writers and artists coming to terms with a dark past. The film begins with the return of a man to his hometown after 20 years of living in Chicago. Something is clearly amiss. His brother has inexplicably begun unearthing Jewish gravestones that were used as paving blocks after the war. The neighbors are unaccountably hostile. The buried secrets concern the wartime fate of the local Jews who, contrary to official history, were not deported by the Nazi occupiers but massacred in a single day by their Gentile neighbors. Released in Poland in 2012, Aftermath has reignited the controversy that surrounded the publication in 2000 of the book Neighbors by the historian Jan T. Gross, a searing account of the covered-up slaughter in Jedwabne, a once half-Jewish village in northeastern Poland where hundreds of Jews, including children, were murdered in a savage pogrom in 1941.

In Afternmath, Poles, accustomed to seeing themselves as victims during World War II, are confronted with an incident in which their countrymen had been victimizers. Nationalists are incensed. Others have found this revelation evidence of a nation coming to terms with its disturbing past. Pasikowski saw the subject as material for a movie. "The film isn't an adaptation of the book, which is documented and factual, but the film did grow out of it, since it was the source of my knowledge and shame," he has said. Aftermath, which is set around 2001, at the time of the Jedwabne debate (to which the film never explicitly refers) in the same rural region of northeast Poland, and draws not only on the book Neighbors but also the 1996 documentary Shtetl, made by Marian Marzynski.

Obsessed with the idea of rescuing the remnants of Jewish life, Pasikowski's protagonist, Jozef Kalina (Maciej Stuhr), is subjected to intense hostility. Jozef is ostracized by his neighbors. His wife, unable to withstand the pressure, has left for Chicago. His older brother, Franciszek (Ireneusz Czop), who departed Poland on the eve of the 1981 declaration of martial law, returns to investigate and finds himself unwillingly drawn into his brother's mission, excavating the past with increasingly violent and ultimately devastating results.

As a naive outsider learning about World War II from people who survived it and their children, I was obsessed during the seven months in 2000 that I lived in Poland with the enormity of Poland's loss during World War II. I visited cemetery after cemetery. In Biala Podlaska, the headstones in the Jewish cemetery had all been taken for building material; the cemetery itself was there, a large green lawn that somebody kept mowed. In Wyszkow, the stones had been recovered and built into a monument that reminded me of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, only without visitors. In Nowe Miasto Lubawskie, where I lived, we found a stash of Jewish headstones in storage in the sanitation services yard, set aside after they had been unearthed during road construction. I shocked at how Jewish tombstones had been treated after the war but no more or less shocked after asking a priest to help me find my grandfather's grave in the Catholic cemetery, "He is buried there, for sure, but in those days people did not buy these big gravestones like today. A wooden cross. It lasted maybe ten, twenty years, and that's it." Then, as years passed, new graves were dug on top of the old.

Watching Aftermath with my knowledge and experience of Poland, I wondered what it would be like to see this film without understanding that 6 million Poles were murdered during the war, half of them Jews and half of them ethnic Poles, without understanding that prewar anti-Semitism was probably less threatening in Poland than in any other European country, without knowing that there are more Poles (6,394) named on Yad Vashem than any other nationality and that one of Yad Vashem's principal duties is to convey the gratitude of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. This is the danger of learning history through movies, which must simultaneously serve as entertainment.

Inspired by the true Holocaust related incident that took place in Poland during the Second World War, Aftermath tells the story of two brothers who unearth a shocking secret about their hometown that hasn't been spoken of ever since the war ended. Franciszek Kalina has returned from Chicago to his hometown after decades & discovers that his brother Józef has been shunned by the entire community for acquiring many Jewish tombstones which were once used as pavement for a now abandoned road. As the residents grow more hostile towards them, the brothers attempt to find out what really happened to all the Jewish residents only to discover a truth that'll scar them for life.

Brilliantly directed by Władysław Pasikowski, the first act of the film is kind of slow, less informative & tells a completely different story than what's presented in the second & third acts. Nicely photographed, superbly acted, finely scored & becoming potent in the middle of the story from where it feels like this film will explode any moment & eventually does when the devastating secrets about the fate of the town's Jews are finally revealed.

On an overall scale, Aftermath (Pokłosie) could've been a better film if it had used a more tighter narrative but nonetheless manages to achieve what it set out to do & brings on the screen a horrifying secret that many around the world still aren't aware of and ends up delivering an even more powerful punch that won't be easily forgotten. Undoubtedly deserving a wider global audience, Aftermath is one film you shouldn't miss out if you're game for Holocaust-related cinema.

Aftermath tells the story of Franek, pulled back to his native Polish roots from Chicago after thirty years, to see his brother Jozek, who lives on the family farm outside Warsaw. They are both experiencing some kind of aftermath - Franek fled Poland years before and is teased for coming back home, while Jozek's wife and kids have inexplicably left him and he's the most hated man in town. When Franek finds out Jozek (Maciej Stuhr) has inexplicably ripped up a thoroughfare road surface nearby he must unravel the mystery - leading to a discovery that breaks open all they know about their family and the town around them.

The film has a strong storyline related to World War II and the slaughter of Polish Jews, which has been controversial in its home country.

This unique gritty thriller is bound to true-life events, and so emotive that it's easy to see why the reaction might have been so strong from a country where religion still plays such a huge part in all aspects of life.

Performances are tight, measured and well-rounded. Actors breathe life into the script in every corner with even cameo players adding to a dark and lustrous community of characters within the film's grim premise - The human drive for survival in exceptional circumstances as violent, greedy and barbaric fuels performances with meaty and violent lines in even the oldest actors here.

Wladyslaw Pasikowski, the director, stuns from the first minute, narrating with simple and blunt motif from the off: We see Franek (Ireneusz Czop) arriving in Warsaw at the start of the film; his eye twitches just once as he irritatedly hands over his passport. It's lean storytelling that keeps you guessing to a sad and horrifying end.

Exquisitely shot and colored, with images of Polish landscape like paintings that wash you in the atmosphere of 80's Eastern Europe - maybe Franek feels nothing has changed since he left thirty years ago - "Hasn't changed a bit." he says, entering Jozek's house. It's no surprise that Polanski's cinematographer on The Pianist, Pawel Edelman is at work as the DoP here.

Something about this movie reminded me of Almodovar's The Skin I Live in or Arcel's Dragon Tattoo, or maybe Music Box. The way the characters build, and the tension in silence, and also the absolutely native way the tradition, political situation and historical culture of Poland is presented. The back story is crafted brilliantly - Poland becomes a whole character in itself, with a personality, mood and motivation - and not always in a good way. Poland has its dark underbelly.

This is where the genius of this script lies. To someone who knows nothing of Poland's rich interior tapestry and relationships with the outside world, this film enlightens and interests succinctly without a history lesson, with an engrossing soundtrack from Jan Duszyński, (reminiscent of another Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner with his work on Three Colors).

In fact the criticism lies only in the way the subtitles have been produced. They are one beat behind all the time - I would like to see the subtitle when the character speaks, not half a second after, and there are some spelling mistakes in them: here/hear, drom/from, your/you're, maybe/mebbe, for example, and odd words like " vacationers" and "a 100 years" used in a sort of non-native way. Some sentences are not proof read and are missing words, "your brother didn't back.."(?) This did spoil my enjoyment of the film occasionally.

This script is ripe for an American remake, but it's pretty likely this Polish original will remain superior. A tense and intelligent haunting of a film absolutely recommended - an outstanding European seat-sticker.

Unfortunately this movie was used as propaganda tool from two opposite sides. I'd recommend not to seek any relationship to any facts as you won't find any. Simply enjoy the movie for what was created - an artistic value with universal message.

I was not aware of Poland banning this movie. As a matter of fact there were some Poles (too many) that sold out Jews to Germans. There were many (too many)Poles executed along with the whole family for hiding Jews.

In Yad Vashem majority of trees, symbolizing those who saved Jews, have Polish names. As a matter of fact most of these trees symbolize Polish families. It should be many, many more, but some Poles decided to take an award from God, never from people.

My father was risking his life by smuggling grain in a street car passing through ghetto. The bags were hidden in the motor compartment and at some secluded spots he was ripping these bags open. Little kids were swarming around grain and quickly filling their cans. For them it was the only meal the whole family could have. I don't think he ever heard "thank you" for doing it, however he enjoyed living the life of a decent man.

This movie is a very primitive piece of propaganda. Presents a very one - dimensional and biased picture of Jewish - Polish relationship, which in reality was extremely complex. My review is NOT an attempt to say that there are no dark pages in Polish history in regards to this matter. I would just like to state that it presents a most extreme exaggeration of known facts, presented by Jewish side. This version began to fall apart the moment the official investigation into the matter was launched. Jewish rabies started to protest and oppose the exhumations the very moment German shells were dug out from the barn (realise - owning a firearm by a Polish peasant at that time equals death on the spot). The movie presents Polish antisemitism as purely fueled by ignorance and intolerance, while totally omitting how significant percent of Jewish minority in Poland were actively involved in dismantling an independent Polish state and trying to submit it to the power of an aggressive and expansionist neighbor (Soviet Union). Simply look into Jewish role in communist movement and particularly NKWD, responsible for death, torture and sending to Siberia estimated 250 thousands of Polish patriots who kept fighting against Soviet domination. This piece of history is not even mentioned in our own schools until this day. The attempts by Jewish Zionist movement to use straight lies and half truths to hurt Polish national interest date back to beginning of the XX century and continue until today in a similar fashion. Back then they presented Poland as "unworthy of independence" because they're bigot and intolerant. These arguments were then backed in US political circles by photos of bestial massacres of Jewish people committed in Russia in late XIX century by Tatars. It's very sad, that this movie (in reality addressed to the Western World, Americans, Britons and Germans in particular, to plant an idea that this really happened the way it's pictured) was funded by Polish government money. I repeat, I'm not writing this to pretend that Polish nation has nothing to be ashamed of. There's plenty. But attempts to clean our closets by people who have their own full of skeletons, using lies and cheap propaganda are more hypocrisy than I and many of us can take. Let's just ponder for a moment - where did all the Polish Jews come from??? Maybe from all of the Europe, where they were banned and chased away from by acts of antisemitism dating back to middle ages and continuing into modern era. The very same countries that are now trying to sound morally superior, giving us lessons in tolerance. Disgusting. Edit: And this is precisely why I call this movie a piece of propaganda. Known facts state that a relatively small group of Polish inhabitants of Jedwabne (around 40) took took part in bestial massacre of Jewish people (around 340). There are strong indications that this act was inspired overseen by Germans (German troops and police present in the village on that day). It was undeniably fueled by ulterior motives, but revenge for recent Jewish collaboration with Soviets in this area was very likely a major factor (of course it doesn't excuse this bestiality in any way but it does put it in some perspective). Man who tried to save the memory about these events by collecting tombstones is one of the most respected people and became a mere of a nearby town. What film says it that most Poles in Jedwabne slaughtered all Jews out of sheer, organic badness, jealousy and greed. The man who poked into these matters got crucified on the barn door (in 21st century!). The acting is wooden, dialogues are unnatural. There is no life in this piece of cinema, it feels like reading 8 years' old homework. Means of expression are like taken from Leni Riefenstahl's movies (playing football with a head? crucifixion on barn door with police watching and doing nothing? WTF?). The film was made to plant an idea that "of course this is dramatized but basically that's how it was and that is what Poles are". People like BigScreenDom switch their thinking off and yell antisemitism without even bothering to check if the facts I mentioned are historically accurate. This is exactly how propaganda works.

Besides West Germany under Konrad Adenauer and later governments, no other European country did any serious effort to admit their role in Jewish deportation and final annihilation during the Nazi era of WWII.

East Germany persistently denied having had anything to do with it and Austria still considers itself as having being "occupied" by the Nazis instead of the truth, which is having joyful joined Hitler's Germany as seen in old news reels with hundreds of thousands enthusiastic people in the street parades, welcoming the Germans troops at the "Anschluss".

Poland (as France, Switzerland and other countries) preferred to ignore any kind of collaboration or sympathy for the Nazi regime.

Switzerland closed his frontiers to countless Jews, which was tantamount to sent them back to a clear death.

The Vatican accepted a very small number of Jews in the Vatican State as alibi, but did not intervene at Hitler as it should morally have done. Pope Pius XII is supposed to have believed that the Jews historically deserved in a certain way that punishment, but of course the Vatican denies it.

France had to wait very long time until President Chirac was the first who had the courage to recognize the French active collaboration in the deportation of French Jews (including hundreds of very small children!) to the German death camps. He apologized in the name of the French nation. A noble gesture!

His predecessor President Mitterand (who had a dubious role during the occupation, although supposedly having been a "socialist") had before Chirac strongly denied any guilt of his country and had found "no reason to apologize". He even protected during his presidency some "old friends" who were directly responsible for having organized those deportations, people who had made even more "efforts" to carry out their sinister task, than what the Nazis requested from them!

At the time of the hopeless, desperate and heroic revolt at the Jewish Getto of Warsaw, the Polish underground partisans refused to supply the Jewish fighters with weapons or help them in any way... unless they paid for it which was not possible since within the Getto they were starving to death!

If the Germans undertook to get rid of the Polish Jews, well, it was not such a bad idea after all. In any case not a Polish problem at all!. "The less Jews in Poland, the better", was the general feeling in Poland during the Nazi occupation (with some noble exceptions of very courageous Poles who risked their own life to hide Jews). Besides, as shown in the film, it allowed many Poles to get hold of the houses, land properties and other possessions of all the "disappeared" Jews, something which of course also took place in other European countries.

This film, made by a (non Jewish! very courageous) film maker, created unsurprisingly a great turmoil in Poland. Wladyslaw Pasikowski was even accused to be a "a polish hater". However the facts it tells are entirely true although the names, for obvious reasons, were changed and some details added or modified for cinematographic reasons.

This film, together with "Schindler's List" is a MILLESTONE in the films describing WWII and the Holocaust.

No doubt it is very difficult to accept for Polish citizens. They will willingly see the film about the Katyn massacre organized by Stalin (a film in which Wladyslaw Pasikowski collaborated as well) since it concerned Polish victims. However most of them do not want to know anything about the sad role that Poland played towards their Jews during the German occupation (and long before with "Numerus Clausus" for Jews in educational institutes, restriction where Jews were allowed to live, countless Pogroms, etc.).

Whoever wants to have a comprehensive view of the Nazi era in Europe SHOULD see this film.

The arguments others brought here against this film are in my opinion fallacious. No film is perfect and no historical film is 100% identical to the facts it tells. However even if some events might be slightly changed, the true point of the film is to reveal the attitude of most Poles during the Nazi occupation towards their Jewish fellow citizens.

Unfortunately, although the number of Jews presently living in Poland can easily be neglected, strangely enough Antisemitism is still very strong in present day Poland. (Antisemitism without Jews!!!!) An interesting example is for instance Lech Walesa. He is no doubt a hero from the Polish point of view but that does not change his negative feelings towards Jews.

Antisemitism (and his present forms of Antiisraelism, Antizionism and so on) are still a sad reality with different degrees of violence in most countries in the world in the 21th century.

Antisemitism in Poland is a many hundred years phenomenon with a special, additional fact non present in other European countries in which Pogroms against Jews also took place, the strong Polish catholicism and the old catholic accusation "Jews killed Jesus" taken seriously by the illiterate people (ignoring that actually the Romans crucified Jesus and that Jesus was himself a Jew!).

How many people know for instance that at his time, Chopin refused to play in a concert hall... if he learned that Jews were among the public? That does not diminish at all, of course, the great musical value of Chopin's music but just shows that he also was "a true Pole", from this dark point of view as well.

To sum up, this is an astounding film and well worth to see!!! Whoever sees it without being in advance biased against it, will not forget it!

This is not propaganda- its a story loosely based on well documented and proved historical facts. Many Poles had a hand in the massacre of Jews (proved) and many Poles were deported or killed as well (because they wouldn't give up the Jews). The user who posted that review should really get their facts straight because what they are saying is bordering on antisemitism. Either way, I reported the post to IMDb so they will decide if it stays or is removed

This is not propaganda- its a story loosely based on well documented and proved historical facts. Many Poles had a hand in the massacre of Jews (proven) and many Poles were deported or killed as well (because they wouldn't give up the Jews). The user who posted that review should really get their facts straight because what they are saying is bordering on antisemitism. Either way, I reported the post to IMDb so they will decide if it stays or is removed

On its own, and to people unfamiliar with Jedwabne's past, this might seem like a decent movie. But once you get to know what really happened and then watch the movie, you're only left with bewilderment, or disgust.

While in the movie the whole village (and all of its ancestors) have dirt on their hands and desperately try to shut down the inconvenient truth from coming out, in reality the excavations in Jedwabne were stopped by the Jews. As more and more proof came out clearly proving that Germans orchestrated that bestial crime, interest in continuing the search was substituted with demands to stop it, basing it on not wanting to further profanate the dead bodies. And it came from those same Jewish organizations that pushed hard for excavating. The truth turned out to be less spicy than people thought - if we can even sum up like that such a tragedy.

The film made quite a storm in Poland, and for good reason. Anti-Polish movies that show us in the worst possible light are getting financed easily from public money while the ones that try to be as faithful to the real history and patriotic movies in general are regularly denied funding. For Polish people, aided by our own government, to produce a movie that blatantly lies about history to put us in the worst possible light while claiming to do the opposite (supposedly coming to terms with dark past) sounds like a cruel joke, but that's our reality and people grow more conscious and angered with it every year.

If you want to watch it as a non-factual movie for its story and are not interested in historical realism, it's probably worth it, it's decent. Still, a movie that not only addressed history, but a highly sensitive and painful subject, must be judged by how close it sticks to what we really know about the topic. After all, people treat movies that refer to history as a source of information about the world that we live in. So when such drastic deviation is being made, even if it would be an Oscar-worthy material (which it's far from), its core is still rotten and that has to reflect on rating. As a fictional movie, 6.5/10. With "historical lesson" included, 2/10.

Obsessed with righting a wrong, a small-time farmer manages to put himself at odds with his family as well as neighbors when his actions threaten to reveal a long-hidden and notorious secret of a little community. His brother, returning after thirty years abroad, gets caught in the turmoil. Uncertain of the magnitude of the emotions they are dealing with, the depth of concealed pain, or even what exactly happened and who deserves the blame, the two brothers struggle as much with each other as they do attempting to make things right. The story is intriguing from the outset and the few actors are capable, yet depth is lacking in terms of dialog, scenery, and events. The characters do not seem as genuine or animated as they might be.

In the annals of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen, this one probably comes in second right behind "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". Both films deal with the Holocaust, though this one sheds an unusual light on the fate of Jews who happened to live in the wrong place at the wrong time. Actually, they were living their lives as normal until the Nazi war machine turned their backs on the small village in question, and allowed, even encouraged the mass murder of over a hundred people, and relabeled the distribution of local farms as agrarian land reform. The truth of the matter all comes out when an American from Chicago visits his Polish brother who appears to live on the edge of mental instability. The brother's obsession in rescuing the gravestones of dead Jews raises the ire of the town folk as well as the local police when he destroys a road that used the grave markers as a foundation for a road bed.

The most distressing part of the story occurs near the finale when an aged citizen who took part in the atrocities is confronted by Franciszek Kalina (Ireneusz Czop), and the man defends his actions, much as Nazi concentration camp guards justified their behavior as part of their job without questioning. It gets worse however, when the Kalina Brothers find out that their own father participated in the brutal burning deaths of the victims a half century earlier. As the brothers decide to deal with their emotions in different ways, it's Józef Kalina (Maciej Stuhr) who becomes yet another victim of the town's hate. I thought it took a lot of gall for the police chief to declare that Józef hung himself when it was clear that the younger brother was crucified. Just another denial in a village full of denial about the past and unwilling to face the truth of history.

Some will criticize the film as a propaganda tool that excoriates the Polish people and casts an entire nation in an unfavorable light. I'm of Polish descent myself, but just as in the case of movies depicting the history of slavery in America, you can't judge an entire nation based on the actions of an unenlightened segment of society that took the wrong path. This film is a brave statement by Polish writer and director Wladyslaw Pasikowski, who demonstrates with this work that the term 'Never Again' needs to be emphasized and reinforced for succeeding generations.

Construction worker returns, meagrely equipped, from the US to his anti-Semitic Polish village to spend time with his farmer brother, whose eccentric collecting habits have, it emerges, estranged not only his wife and family but also the villagers. They and the brothers' late farming parents have a past that requires some detective work to unravel in an increasingly disconcerting history. Short on humour (unless that is supposed to be found in the amnesiac shopper) or much female interest, the story moves in fits and starts with some lack of confidence in its pacing, and occasional clunkiness of narrative and symbolism. An important line of comment, towards the end, fails to make the sub- titles. As so often happens, the director feels the need to substitute frantic for grim, and the characterisation of the brothers is not altogether sure-footed. More than competently shot by Pawel Edelman (The Pianist) with a muted teal-and-orange colour palette, but with somewhat clumsy Foley, this is not a delicate film: less Ida, more Straw Dogs, though thematically linked with both, and perhaps with a too- generous helping of Polish self-flagellation. Moral, but not uplifting, it ultimately leaves the viewer in a void. However, a robust, and certainly not wasted, 104 minutes.

From the beginning one knows this is not going to be a walk in the park. The movie exudes heaviness wrapped in the antisemitism of the time, the country and the characters.

Layered with numerous subplots about brother-brother relationship, the role of the church, the morals of the people, the dreariness of rural living in Poland-the main peeling of the onion unfolds in the last few minutes and the results are spellbinding.

The twists and turns kept me engrossed and I found the acting so good that I had to remind myself that this was not a documentary. Having said that we were reminded by a poster that this is based on actual events, indeed that made it even more provocative and upsetting.

It's the kind of movie that will have you thinking about it for along time.

Backward Polish village stuck in the past. Different generation of people, but little else changed. Story of endless human capacity to commit or allow evil deeds to happen. It soon becomes clear that this is a story about Polish anti-Semitism, so perhaps a spoiler alert wasn't in order. Nothing enrages and mobilizes masses more than guilty conscience. And this godforsaken village has enough guilt to drown the whole country. Hard, unflinching look at the shameful past. Even victims ( and Poles suffered enormous losses in World War II), could be responsible for crime and atrocities. Tough, uncompromising movie, about horrible shame.

"Aftermath" (2012 release from Poland: 2014 DVD release in the US; 107 min.) brings the fictional story of the aftermath of WWII in a rural village in Poland. As the movie opens, we see Francis Kalina landing at Warsaw's airport. We later learn that he basically left/fled Poland for the US when General Jaruzelski declared martial law in 1981 and that this is his first time back in 20 years (thus setting the movie in the early '00s). Francis comes to visit his younger brother Jozef who runs a small farm. It's not long before we notice that the villagers seem to despise Jozef. We then learn that Jozef has taken a personal interest in restoring tomb stones of local Jews who were murdered by the Germans in WWII, and Jozef is recreating a cemetery on his farm one by one with the tomb stones he recovers. Meanwhile, in a parallel story, things seem askew with the property title of Jozef's farm. To tell you more about this plot-heavy movie would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: I saw this movie recently at a film festival (more on that later). I had never heard of the movie, and didn't know anything about it or the plot going in. I was surprised how long it took for the true story lines to emerge. When Jozef, the younger brother, is assaulted in a café a good 30-40 min. into the movie for no apparent reason, I made the mental note... "why?". The story line involving the property titles is developed even later, about an hour into the movie. Frankly, by then I was about to give up on the movie. I decided to hang in there, and yes, the last 30-40 min. redeem the movie to a degree. Perhaps one of the reasons that I had trouble connecting is that I was not all that impressed with the acting performances, I mean, you truly watch them "act" when in a film you shouldn't feel as if you are watching "acting", you know what I mean? All that aside, the historic background and ulterior intentions of the movie can never be in doubt, and just from that angle, this is something people should watch.

I recently saw "Aftermath" at the 2015 Jewish & Israeli Film Festival here in Cincinnati. The screening was sold out, but more importantly, the organizers have assembled a top-notch quality line-up of movies such as The Green Prince, Dancing in Jaffa, and The Third Half, just to name those. As a movie buff and a support of the Israeli cause, I absolutely love this festival. As to "Aftermath", the movie is well-intended but takes forever to establish, so I'm giving it a mixed 3.5 stars: not bad but not great either.

This movie's theme has been done to death. If you've seen one third Reich movie you've seen them all more or less.

It was 82 years ago. Who cares! Get some new material already. I am sick of having five new nazi movies (or more) every year!

This movie's theme has been done to death. If you've seen one third Reich movie you've seen them all more or less.

It was 82 years ago. Who cares! Get some new material already. I am sick of having five new nazi movies (or more) every year!

This movie's theme has been done to death. If you've seen one third Reich movie you've seen them all more or less.

It was 82 years ago. Who cares! Get some new material already. I am sick of having five new nazi movies (or more) every year!