Es geschah in der Stille der Nacht

This film is one of the greatest I have ever seen. Unfortunately, it has never been released in this country. I saw it at the Montreal film festival in 1979 and again in Montreal on a visit in the mid-eighties. (Please let's get the many great Eastern European films of the sixties and seventies made available to film lovers.)

A young man is finishing school and wants to go on to a sailing trip with his wealthy school chums, but his father, a great detective nearing retirement, wants him to enter a serious profession. The two are unable to communicate, and that problem is one of the two stories of the film.

The second concerns the father's frustrated attempt to catch a serial killer , the first such criminal he has encountered in an illustrious career. The son's growing frustration with his father's lack of respect leads him to decide to compete with his father in tracking down the killer - without his father's knowledge. This section of the film is beautifully filmed with long sequences of following the main suspect during snowy nights.

The ending is one of the most powerful in cinema, with the son and father confronting each other over the killer and their own flaws. On my second viewing, a young woman screamed out "NO!" during the ending, and that best sums up its impact.

The two lead actors are both excellent, and this is a story that is intense, interesting, thought provoking and accessible - Who can't relate to a family's communication problems. Sadly, this film appears to be headed for oblivion, at least in America, but if viewers don't support first rate American films like Soderberg's King of the Hill, a slightly, lighter look at a youngster trying to survive and gain adult respect, how can we expect European films to fare better.

The action of "Wsród nocnej ciszy" takes place before Second World War.A series of cold and brutal killings of small boys shocks the citizens of Polish town.The children are murdered with a gun and a black clad killer always leaves one trace on crime scene:a small toy with the picture of a cat on it.Police officer Teofil Herman begins to track an elusive killer..."Quiet Is the Night" is based on Ladislav Fuks novel "Sledztwo prowadzi radca Heumann" from 1971.The acting is excellent and the characters are well-developed.The relationship between father and son is truly believable and tragic.The climax is strikingly powerful and intense.If you are a fan of Italian gialli or Fritz Lang's "M" you can't miss this forgotten Polish classic.8 out of 10.