W ukryciu

The Polish film W ukryciu was shown in the U.S. with the title "In Hiding" (2013). It's directed by Jan Kidawa-Blonski. The movie is set during WW II in Nazi-occupied Poland. Janka, a young cellist (Magdalena Boczarska) learns that Ester (Julia Pgrebinska), a Jewish ballet dancer, is hiding in her home. They appear safe because no one makes the connection between Janka's father and Ester's father. Ester's hiding place is obvious--no one would miss it if they looked. Fortunately, no one thinks to look.

The two women are attracted to each other, and begin a relationship. Things are stable until Janka's father is rounded up in a random raid. We assume he was taken to a forced labor camp, although we're not told that.

At that point the political and military situation changes, and so does the relationship between the two young women. What follows is harrowing and painful to watch--not pleasant viewing, but very well scripted and acted.

This movie will work as well on DVD as on the large screen. We saw it at the Little Theatre as part of fabulous ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival, where it had its NY State Premiere.

Set in 1945 Poland, this movie is about a lonely woman who ends up hiding a Jewish woman in her cellar, to whom she gradually becomes very attached. Slow-paced, grim, psychologically intense, sexy: in other words, a European drama! The acting and cinematography are good, and it does a good job conveying the claustrophobic atmosphere to the viewer. The Pole is a cellist and the Jew is a dancer, so there is some cultural entertainment along the way, and of course the Nazi and later Communist oppression keep the pressure on. But the movie kind of drags, and as it concludes you don't feel that there was much meaning in it all, though in a way that adds realism.