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Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup ... see more see more... , Kinga Preis , Marcin Bosak , Krzysztof Skonieczny , Julia Kijowska , Jerzy Walczak , Oliwier Stanczak , Milla Bankowicz , Olek Mincer , Piotr Glowacki , Maria Semotiuk , Michal Zurawski , Malgorzata Pieczynska , Etel Szyc , Weronika Rosati , Andrzej Mastalerz , Ida Lozinska , Mania Lozinska , Dorota Liliental , Maja Bohosiewicz , Vito Hanne , Piotr Nowak , Laura Lo Zito , Zachariasz Muszyñski , Olena Leonenko , Jeremias Koschorz , Alexander Levit , Frank Kobe , Ireneusz Czop , Anton Levit , Benjamin Höppner , Ryszard Mosingiewicz , Filip Garbacz , Dorota Pacciarelli , Anielka Nykowska , Wolfgang Boos , Benedikt Crisand , Maciej Wieckowski

From acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland, In Darkness is based on a true story. Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, one day encounters a group of Je... read more read more...ws trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town's sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha's conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger. -- (C) Sony Pictures Classics

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6,401 ratings

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90% liked it

91 critics

R, 2 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Agnieszka Holland

Release Date: February 10, 2012

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DVD Release Date: June 12, 2012

Stats: 102 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (102)

  • gator681
    March 5, 2012
    gator681
    Leopold(Robert Wieckiewicz) and Stefek(Krzysztof Skonieczny) are a pair of thieves operating in Nazi occupied Lvov in 1942. One day, in the sewers where Leopold works his day job, they hear a noise which turns out to be from the ghetto with the Jews planning on using the sewers ... read morefor a hiding place of their own. Leopold agrees to help for 500 a day and then later feels he should have asked for more. But before any plans can be solidified by Leopold and his new clients, the Nazis put their plans into effect of liquidating the ghetto, forcing him into action. So, it's good that he recently renewed the acquaintance of Mundek(Benno Furmann), a Ukrainian officer who he knew from jail, who is allied with the Nazis. But even with the unintentional help, Leopold soon realizes there are too many to care for properly and puts the upper limit at 11.

    Incredibly based on a true story, "In Darkness" splits its story between above and below ground, with differing results between technical and dramatic spheres. I applaud the movie for going with natural lighting as much as possible below ground, making the claustrophobia and darkness characters themselves, while taking advantage of sudden shifts in elevation to emphasize the refugees' condition with a judicious deployment of rats. And it did seem brighter than usual when I left the movie theater.

    On the other hand, in an attempt to detail the lives below ground, the movie veers too closely to soap opera at times, instead of concentrating on the details that make survival possible. By comparison, Leopold evolves from someone who does the right thing for the wrong reason to someone who cares below the surface, with a face that only a mother or his wife(Kinga Preis) could love. This all just goes to show you that we all wish the best in humanity, even in a time of atrocities being committed just out of sight.
  • fb720603734
    March 4, 2012
    fb720603734
    Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2012 Academy Awards, Agnieszka Holland's IN DARKNESS, is the poor man's SCHINDLER'S LIST, and I mean that as a high compliment. Now don't get me wrong. I think Spielberg made a masterpiece with his Shoah epic, but Holland earns astute emot... read moreions and mines similar themes yet in a more intimate setting. Based on the true story of a Polish sewer worker who charged a small group of Jewish refugees a daily fee to squat in the filthy sewers beneath the city.

    The title of the film is apt, as so much of it takes place in utter darkness. At almost two and a half hours in length, we feel every minute of their intensely long hiding. Like Schindler, our main character, Leopold Socha, played wonderfully by Robert Wieckiewicz, is an opportunist rather than a Jewish sympathizer. In fact, his anti-semitism is much more overt than Schindler's. On the other hand, his wife Wanda, an incredible Kinga Preis, is much more liberal at the outset, but wants to turn her back on the Jews when she fears for her life and that of her family. Their story is so searing, so vivid and unsentimental. It's no wonder I was more drawn to it than to the lives of the various Jews here. While all terrific actors who are given one horrifying scene after another to endure, their plight isn't as layered as that of Socha.

    There is one exception, and it's played by Benno Furmann, who is the love child of a Patrick Wilson/Josh Lucas bromance. Playing a man who leaves the sewers to escape INTO a concentration camp to save someone's life, he has leading man written all over her face. He easily commands the screen in all of his scenes.

    One of my all-time favorite critics, Roger Ebert, dismissed this film by saying that we've seen it all before. As much as I respect his opinion, I disagree. Usually films about this period in history tend to glorify the Jewish characters and they make every moment epic. IN DARKNESS does just the opposite. The Jews are just as flawed as any other characters here, as flawed as anybody would be when facing unreal, desperate circumstances. This is not a hyped up film. Something as simple as rainfall becomes an exciting action sequence, but it's played with an ingenious, dispassionate touch that Holland has always brought to her work.
  • vadermccandless
    May 22, 2012
    vadermccandless
    What the fuck? Does the Holocaust need to be sexy? The ending is emotional, but the film doesn't entirely earn it. Instead it rides on our memories and cultural histories with the Holocaust while showing us a totally bland story. Wieckiewicz is often excellent however, and a few ... read moremoments do manage to stand out as authentic both viscerally and emotionally.
  • ourprez
    March 2, 2012
    ourprez
    A chillingly realistic film of a real Polish Holocaust story with great acting and perfect film grammar.

View All In Darkness Reviews

Critic Reviews

Tom Long
March 16, 2012
Tom Long, Detroit News

Based on a true story, "In Darkness" is obviously tough to watch, especially since Holland's camera is both unforgiving and relentlessly human. Full Review

Colin Covert
March 9, 2012
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

The film is a morally challenging examination of the vexed Polish Catholic-Jewish relations of the era and a rich portrait of a man moving almost reluctantly toward righteousness. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
March 2, 2012
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

The chiseled Furmann gives Mundek a savvy, even moral, brawn. As Paulina, Maria Schrader makes an argument for gentle yet pragmatic maternalism. Full Review

John Anderson
March 2, 2012
John Anderson, Newsday

An epic, and no less of one for taking place largely in the claustrophobic confines of a Polish sewer system. Full Review

Chris Vognar
March 1, 2012
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

When it's over, you'll be relieved to come up for air. You'll also be glad you took the plunge down under. Full Review

Ty Burr
March 1, 2012
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The film looks fine, is structured intelligently, measures out the horror in pragmatic amounts. In the end, though, it's that professionalism that gets in the way. Full Review

Steven Rea
March 1, 2012
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Holland, shooting in confined spaces with little light, elicits taut performances from a strong cast. Full Review

David Denby
February 26, 2012
David Denby, New Yorker

Honesty is the movie's greatest strength. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
February 23, 2012
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

One might think that years and years of seeing Holocaust movies would create an immunity, a point at which you can feel no more. But in fact, it works the other way. Full Review

Bill Goodykoontz
February 23, 2012
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Wieckiewicz is outstanding, his open face expressing a full range of emotions, often within the same scene, sometimes within the same conversation. Is he a good man? Or is he a greedy man moved to do ... Full Review

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In Darkness Trivia

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