Rent In Darkness (2011)
3.7 of 5 from 146 ratings
2h 18min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- World War II true tale, about a sewer worker and petty thief in Nazi-occupied Poland agrees to help hide Jewish survivors in the town's sewers. But what starts out as a straightforward business arrangement soon turns into something unexpected, with the unlikely alliance seeping deeper into his conscience as he battles against all odds to keep them alive.
- Actors:
- Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup, Marcin Bosak, Julia Kijowska, Jerzy Walczak, Oliwer Stanczak, Milla Bankowicz, Krzysztof Skonieczny, Kinga Preis, Aleksander Mincer, Piotr Glowacki, Maria Semotiuk, Michal Zurawski, Zofia Pieczynska, Etl Szyc, Weronika Rosati, Andrzej Mastalerz
- Directors:
- Agnieszka Holland
- Producers:
- Eric Jordan, Juliusz Machulski, Leander Carell, Marc-Daniel Dichant, Patrick Knippel, Paul Stephens, Steffen Reuter, Wojciech Danowski
- Writers:
- Robert Marshall, David F. Shamoon
- Aka:
- W ciemnosci
- Studio:
- Metrodome
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's Euro 24 Film Festival, New waves of Polish Cinema
- Countries:
- Poland
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Reviews (1) of In Darkness
Impressive and atmospheric. - In Darkness review by JW
I was compelled to look this up in anticipation of the upcoming 'Mr. Jones' by the same director, and I'm glad I did. An incredible story told with no frills and no Hollywood embellishments, with some superb performances by the leads. Suitably claustrophobic and brutal, there were also unexpected sex scenes and humorous interludes.
I rarely write reviews, but felt I had to counter the sole review on here, by Alyse Garner, who bizarrely called it "so poor", "mildly disappointing", criticized many aspects, and gave five stars!
Believe me, this film is well made, and well worth watching.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
In Darkness (aka W ciemnosci ) review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso
In many ways In Darkness does exactly what it says on the tin, not only because it largely takes place in barely lit underground sewers and also because it is so poor that you may well falls asleep before the end.
On the surface this should be a great movie, it was nominated for an Oscar after all, and yet my impression of it was little more than a regurgitation of a several far better movies that have come before. Based on the true story of a sewer worker in Nazi Germany who finds a group of Jews hiding out from the atrocities in the rat infested sewers below the city In Darkness ought to be a deep and glorious tale of human resilience and the beauty of a crooked man having a change of heart. And it certainly has all the elements to make something of this calibre, instead however the plot is handled very poorly, the characters are not only unlikeable (their flaws clearly exaggerated to make them appear more fallible and human) but also rather poorly acted.
What truly takes the biscuit with this movie however is how a moving piece of history has been turned into rather dodgy melodrama; it lacks the grit, presence and humanity of tales like Schindler’s List and winds up just being mildly disappointing.