Poklosie

2012
Unrated
1h 47m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Maciej Stuhr and Ireneusz Czop in Poklosie (2012)

A Polish man who returns home after the death of his father unearths a secret about the now-deceased Jewish residents of his village.A Polish man who returns home after the death of his father unearths a secret about the now-deceased Jewish residents of his village.A Polish man who returns home after the death of his father unearths a secret about the now-deceased Jewish residents of his village.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

4.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 6 nominations total

Photos7

+ 2

User reviews21

7.34.3K

Featured reviews

10denis888

Gruesome But Absolutely Outstanding

This is a very good movie. Deeply tragic, terribly honest, unbearably truthful, impossibly merciless. he very topic of Holocaust has been closely watched, studied and discussed, but here we do not have the scale of Spielberg's Schindler's List, or bare wound of Polanski's Pianist. Here we see a minor case, nevertheless, not a bit less painful or decent. The story of two Kalina brothers in a small Polish village (which is shown so vividly and so exact) seems to be a bit slow at first, but then the tempo of the film gets faster, the events get more and more tragic, and people become more and more horrible. This is a fictitious village, but the story itself is of Jedwabne origin, with local population taking part in killing all local Jews just to be commended by Nazis. The very fact that the movie was prohibited in some Polish Gminy (regions), and harshly attacked by nationalists shows how very true it is and how precisely it hit the tee. Ireneusz Czop as Franciszek Kalina, Maciej Stuhr as Józef Kalina, brother of Franciszek, Jerzy Radziwiłowicz as the rector, Zuzana Fialová as Justyna, granddaughter of Sudecki, Andrzej Mastalerz as Janusz Pawlak, Zbigniew Zamachowski as police Sgt. Włodzimierz Nowak, Danuta Szaflarska as the elderly herbalist

all these actors did a marvelous and very deep performance, and the very core of the problem is shown extremely well. Thye final discovery is so tragic for Kalina Brothers, so bad, so terrible to know, that one of them cannot bear the truth anymore, and the other does what he really has to. The final scene with Jewsish relatives of murdered locals is deeply sad, touching, and really great. I highly recommend this excellent film and commend it 10 out of 10. This is a superb work of Wladyslaw Pasikowski - he did his real best.

CinemaClown

Adds A Whole New Chapter To World War History

Inspired by the true Holocaust related incident that took place in Poland during the Second World War, Aftermath tells the story of two brothers who unearth a shocking secret about their hometown that hasn't been spoken of ever since the war ended. Franciszek Kalina has returned from Chicago to his hometown after decades & discovers that his brother Józef has been shunned by the entire community for acquiring many Jewish tombstones which were once used as pavement for a now abandoned road. As the residents grow more hostile towards them, the brothers attempt to find out what really happened to all the Jewish residents only to discover a truth that'll scar them for life.

Brilliantly directed by Władysław Pasikowski, the first act of the film is kind of slow, less informative & tells a completely different story than what's presented in the second & third acts. Nicely photographed, superbly acted, finely scored & becoming potent in the middle of the story from where it feels like this film will explode any moment & eventually does when the devastating secrets about the fate of the town's Jews are finally revealed.

On an overall scale, Aftermath (Pokłosie) could've been a better film if it had used a more tighter narrative but nonetheless manages to achieve what it set out to do & brings on the screen a horrifying secret that many around the world still aren't aware of and ends up delivering an even more powerful punch that won't be easily forgotten. Undoubtedly deserving a wider global audience, Aftermath is one film you shouldn't miss out if you're game for Holocaust-related cinema.

9turkucniejadek3

Sad, but true..

Good Day, I registered to IMDb for the first time, just for this title... This is very important moment of polish history and very important movie to understand this history. I must confess first that I'm from family very close connected to connected to WWII Underground Home Army in Warsaw. Is someone has something to say about ghettos in Warsaw and Nazi occupation, my family was part of it from creating opposition to lost life in Auschwitz. My uncle died in Auschwitz for being family of important man before 1939. He was 16 years old boy. Pole, not Jew. Whole my family was destined to die in Auschwitz, but managed to avoid it, except my young uncle... Back to movie. My family was in Warsaw, was in underground and... was helping Jews in Ghetto and I also have Jew family (and proud of it). It was very hard to believe that Jedwabne and similar facts happened, especially for my grand dad, but... Even thought he was victim of denunciation, he was also victim of small peasant communities; like Jedwabne. He had to pay to not be arrested by Gestapo and he had to pay with family precious relics and everything he had. Just because peasants knew who he was. And he had to eat. Probably we will never know how many people died because of mentality of people like in "Poklosie"... Creators of "Poklosie" including actors are "enemy of the state", but many people still remember who made money for deaths. Yes, I know, it's short and not important comment, but if you know how less popular version of polish history looked like - watch the movie. No, it was not always like this - this is why most Israelis has polish roots, but we should remember of German, French, Dutch, French, Russian and other people who helped Nazis just for money.

No comment. you just have to see this movie, no matter what you think. With Kind Regards, B. Radziszewski

8wojwys

Not a propaganda but used as such

Unfortunately this movie was used as propaganda tool from two opposite sides. I'd recommend not to seek any relationship to any facts as you won't find any. Simply enjoy the movie for what was created - an artistic value with universal message.

I was not aware of Poland banning this movie. As a matter of fact there were some Poles (too many) that sold out Jews to Germans. There were many (too many)Poles executed along with the whole family for hiding Jews.

In Yad Vashem majority of trees, symbolizing those who saved Jews, have Polish names. As a matter of fact most of these trees symbolize Polish families. It should be many, many more, but some Poles decided to take an award from God, never from people.

My father was risking his life by smuggling grain in a street car passing through ghetto. The bags were hidden in the motor compartment and at some secluded spots he was ripping these bags open. Little kids were swarming around grain and quickly filling their cans. For them it was the only meal the whole family could have. I don't think he ever heard "thank you" for doing it, however he enjoyed living the life of a decent man.

9Its1917hrs

Excellent thriller about gruesome historical events

I feel sad for the review where one feels attacked and is explaining at length how this movie makes all Polish anti-semites. This is merely silly of course. History doesn't change by denying it. Painful but true, who ever survived the German camps and made it back was to find everything taken from them. It's a part of history and nobody has to be offended when movies are based on our gruesome events. It's no generalization.

About the movie: excellent cast, excellent story build up and absolutely worth your time. Even for those not interested in the historical part. While the story unfolds there is a intense sense of claustrophobia as the small town has to let go of generations old secrets. Daring script and great pacing.

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Quotes
Franciszek Kalina: So, what made you do it?
Józef Kalina: Beats me. So many things aren't right, but we live with them anyway because there's nothing you can do about it. But I think that some things are more wrong than others. It's like, you see a guy lying drunk in the street, you walk on by, 'cause you think, "He's drunk," and you got your own problems and all. But when it's a child lying there, you just can't walk by. Understand?
Franciszek Kalina: Go on.
Józef Kalina: The Germans destroyed that cemetery. I can't help that, I wasn't even born then. They paved the road with gravestones, now that's very wrong, but I didn't know about that either. It was only when folks started talking about covering up that old road with asphalt that I thought, "No way." At first I hoped the county would do something, but then I saw people driving up and down the road, all happy that it's nice and even.
Franciszek Kalina: I understand all that, but why you? We never had anything to do with the Yids.
Józef Kalina: Beats me, I'm telling you I don't know why. It made me feel bad. I kept thinking, "This is wrong." What if someone tore up our parents' headstone and put it by the church door so folks wouldn't get their feet muddy?
Franciszek Kalina: Joziu, but these are total strangers. They're not even our people. Not to mention they've been dead 100 years. Your family's alive. Why should they suffer because of some Jewish foolery?
Józef Kalina: I know it's wrong, but I had to do it.
Franciszek Kalina: Jews in Chicago, I know what they're like... What was that about the church?
Józef Kalina: I found out that they laid some of the stones around the well.
Franciszek Kalina: Józek, don't even think about it.
Józef Kalina: Why not? The parish priest doesn't mind. He said I could take them away. That young priest's not too happy about it, but there's nothing he can do. The parish priest is on my side.
Franciszek Kalina: Just don't do it.
Józef Kalina: It's wrong, don't you see?
Franciszek Kalina: It'll end in tears, I'm telling you. What about those lumberjacks, huh? Think they beat you up for no reason?
Józef Kalina: Come on, that was about soccer. They wanted to know who I root for.
Franciszek Kalina: So you went and said Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Józef Kalina: They were drunk and looking for a fight is all.
Franciszek Kalina: [gets up from the table and holds Józef's face in his hands] Why should you, of all people, care about their dead?
Józef Kalina: Well, you know, there's no one left to look after them.