Ashes in the Snow

Greetings again from the darkness. Most World War II films focus on the atrocities committed by Hitler's German forces, but this adaptation of Ruta Sepetys' novel ("Between Shades of Gray") reminds us of the evils under Stalin and the Russian seizure of the Baltic States. Director Marius A Markevicius delivers a feature film debut that is both historical drama and tale of human perseverance.

We have long since been educated on just how cruel humans can and have been to other humans, and director Markevicius - with a script from Ben York Jones (LIKE CRAZY, 2011) - doesn't shy away from the cruelty or atrocities, but he and cinematographer Ramunus Greicius capture the harshness and brutality of the Siberian environment, as well as the brief moments when those being held captive feel sparks of life.

Bel Powley (THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, 2015) stars as Lina, a young Lithuanian artist who lives with her family: mother Elena (Lisa Loven Kongsli, FORCE MAJEUR) and brother Jonas (Tom Sweet). The father/husband is played by Sam Hazeldine and we learn of his secret agenda and activism later in the film. When Russian troops forcibly remove mother and the two kids from their home, a long train ride ends with their working the fields in the Altai Labor Camp in Siberia.

Martin Wallstrom is excellent as Kretzky, a conflicted Russian soldier from the Ukraine. He's kind of persona non-grata on both sides, and as an outsider to the troops and the "devil" to the prisoners, he is somewhat of a sympathetic character. A year later (1942), the family and Officer Kretzky are shipped off to Laptev Sea in the Arctic Circle. This frozen tundra is no place for human beings and death seems preferable to freezing in misery. When giving the relocation order, Kretzky's commanding officer calls them "one big happy family in frozen hell". It's a great line. An acutely descriptive line.

Young Lina's childhood innocence has been shattered, but she possesses an inner strength that only such miserable circumstances could unveil. She carries on finding brief respites in her art and in fleeting romance with fellow prisoner Andrius (Jonah Hauer-King).

There is a story told, a legend really, about a fishing boat and its survivors - the correlation made late in the film. The devastating circumstances and desolate landscape are accompanied aptly by German composer Volker Bertelmann. But let's face it, war crimes against the innocent are tough to watch even in movie form, and this film, regardless of how expertly it's crafted, is relentless in bleakness - though heartfelt and sincere.

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. Switching on subtitles during key scenes was nice, some of the mumbling with an accent was hard to understand.

This story is "inspired" by real events which means it is a fictional story representative of what happened back then, the 1940s, when Stalin's USSR was invading Eastern European countries and labeling residents as enemies, gathering them up and sending them to harsh labor camps. This story focuses on Lithuanians.

Bel Powley is the main focus, even though the actress was 25 or 26, she plays 16-yr-old Lina who has a knack for art - drawing, painting, these types of art. She is self-taught but her father hopes to get her admission to a formal art school. Right then, just after she receives her acceptance letter, is when her family and many others are forced into trucks then trains and shipped off to labor camps.

Of course part of the movie is to show how brutal the Soviets were but the main part is to show how people can work to maintain their dignity in such trying times. Interestingly, in the credits are a long list of "extras" who had ties to ancestors who had been imprisoned and mistreated during those times.

Good movie although hard to watch at times.

While this is a story that needs to be told, somehow this film does not come together. The lead, Bel Powley, has a wide eyed look that seems to be almost a caricature of innocence. The attraction of the soldier and her mother does not have feeling and he is poorly explained. Some of the problem that the actors had was in the writing. For example nothing in the Bel Powley character showed the leadership as the dying mother declared. She showed innocence, not the clever reading of people that leaders have. Still there were touching moments and a history that should be known.

Greetings from Lithuania.

Finally i saw a Lithuanian movie (most of it), which is the one that can definitely be safely shown abroad without embarrassment to itself. And the movie is "Ashes in the Snow" (2018). This is a highly solidly directed, acted, written, filmed and edited movie. It tells a true story and stories. My grandfather was one of those who witnessed and survived this experience on his own, luckily, he did come back.

Overall, "Ashes in the Snow" represent a good Lithuania cinema. Not some stupid pseudo / comedies for with same faces all over again targeted for same audiences trailers of which to even witness in a cinema feels like embarrassment. Not our "Tarantino" wannabe directors crime / comedies of a genre which faded away from cinema more then a decade ago - but in our country feels fresh!

"Ashes in the Snow" is the one who should be seen for all true movie lovers around the world. Great Lithuania cinema.

Such a hard topic and they really didn't show us anything...wish they would make a better story.