jsmallshaw

This film tackles a very difficult issue, immigration between the border of Poland and Belarus. About the only time it is in the news is when some violence breaks out between would be immigrants and the Polish border patrol. While Ms. Holland has once again done an excellent job, the film is very one sided: the immigrants are good and the border patrol are drunken bad guys. Life is never this simple. Having said this, the film captures the chaos and pain of what is basically being ignored in the international press. Belarus is encouraging migrants from the Middle East and Afghanistan with false promises of entry into the EU in order to destabilize and irritate its neighbor to the West. My only other criticism would be that the "Rap" scene at the end was a bit silly and not necessary to the plot of the film. It is definitely worth watching, but just be aware that it has a very one sided message.

We decided to watch this HBO Europe mini-series because we admire the work of Agnieszka Holland.

My wife and I were teens when this took place, my wife was in Poland and I was in the US. I remember watching the invasion on television and wondering why no one was coming to the aid of the protesters.

This film is expertly done and the series captures the feel of post invasion Prague. We were absolutely captivated by the series and my wife said it was accurate portrayal of life behind the Iron Curtain.

A lot of people don't enjoy films with subtitles but if you can beyond that you will be absolutely captivated by this masterpiece.

We really enjoyed this film, but we mainly watch Polish and European movies. I would guess the people that did not like this film probably prefer American films where everything is neat and tidy with a happy ending. We didn't know what to expect in this film, and were surprised by the ending. The cinematography is amazing, I can't even imagine how difficult it was to shoot. So if you like cinema noir, you might enjoy this film as we did. But if you prefer Hollywood productions with movie stars and a tidy ending this is not the film for you. We would recommend it to anyone who has a taste for the slowing, more dramatic European films.