Rent Bitter Harvest (2017)
3.0 of 5 from 113 ratings
1h 39min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- As Stalin advances the ambitions of communists in the Kremlin, a young artist named Yuri (Max Irons) battles to survive famine, imprisonment and torture to save his childhood sweetheart Natalka (Samantha Barks) from the "Holodomor", the death-by-starvation program that ultimately killed millions of Ukrainians. Against this tragic backdrop, Yuri escapes from a Soviet prison and joins the anti-Bolshevik resistance movement as he battles to reunite with Natalka and continue the fight for a free Ukraine.
- Actors:
- Max Irons, Samantha Barks, Terence Stamp, Aneurin Barnard, Barry Pepper, Tamer Hassan, Richard Brake, Tom Austen, Lucy Brown, William Beck, Jack Hollington, Nicholas Aaron, Gary Oliver, Edward Akrout, Richard Ashton, Michael Jenn, Paul Hickey, David G. Robinson, Joey Price, Malcolm Freeman
- Directors:
- George Mendeluk
- Producers:
- Stuart Baird, Chad Barager, Jaye Gazeley, Ian Ihnatowycz, Roman Kindrachuk, George Mendeluk, Darko Skulsky
- Writers:
- Richard Bachynsky Hoover, George Mendeluk
- Aka:
- Devil's Harvest
- Studio:
- Arrow Films
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Drama, Romance
- Countries:
- Canada
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Reviews (5) of Bitter Harvest
Dreadful - Bitter Harvest review by AM
A really worthy and intense subject, rarely tackled - the genocide of 10 million people by forced starvation ordered y Stalin in 1932.
The film however has treated this subject to cliched direction, shmaltzy musak, wooden filming; in all, a mess of a film. The actors try hard but can't overpower the lack of atmosphere or any sense of reality or even documentation. It's ended up as a sort of attempt at a stylisation failing miserably and looking more like an episode of a low budget TV drama.
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Very Dull & Disappointing - Bitter Harvest review by nm
This could have been such a brilliant film. The subject matter is a story that deserves to be told. This film however is a miserable attempt. The acting is wooden top and the characters are s dull that it's hard to care what happens to any of them. It has a budget film quality and really is a bit of a disgrace when the story deserved more.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Fascinating film about 1930s Ukrainian famine in which Stalin starved over 7 million people to death - Bitter Harvest review by PV
This is a necessary film about a serious subject - the deliberate Ukrainian famine of 1932-33 in which Stalin and the Soviets deliberately starved to death 7-10 million people. And people still wonder why Ukraine wanted so badly to be independent (and why some sided with Nazis against Soviets in WWII). Watch this and learn.
Yes, it's low budget - but I disagree with the 1 and 2 star reviews here which are too harsh. The film is well-plotted and hangs together well - yes, the romance part is silly BUT I'd say ALL Hollywood movies think they have to have this to appeal to the female audience. Expect more of this as more women's movies get made (which I won't watch).
Anyone who thinks Socialism leads to Utopia should watch this movie which shows what happens when the state has all control. Disaster! Oppression! Dictatorship!
It made me laugh when one Soviet butcher accuses a Ukrainian of being 'reactionary' - well, that is a favourite term of abuse used by leftwing academics, aimed at anyone who states opinions they disagree with. That speaks volumes.
A flawed but excellent film. 4 stars.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.