Based off a true story from sources such as In the Sewers of Lvov, In Darkness chronicles how a free, Polish sewer inspector helps a group of Jews evade Nazi persecution in the sewers beneath Lvov, Polland for roughly a year. The film explores themes of exploitation and false hubris as the main character grows closer to a secret that threatens his family as well as the Jews he assists.
Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) and Szczepek Wróblewski (Krzysztof Skonieczny) are Polish sewer workers who are small-time thieves at opportune times. As the Nazis begin to clear the Lvov ghetto, a group of Jews escape by digging a hole to the sewer, and are caught by Socha and Szczepek while they hide some of their loot. Socha and Szczepek are offered a large sum of money to help the Jews live in the sewer and assist with food and supplies while they evade the Nazis.
The beginning of the film has Socha and Szczepek attacking teenagers in a large estate and stealing a few items of value. As they escape through the woods, they spot a few Nazi soldiers herding a group of scared, naked women running through forest. The scene is an overture to the suffering portrayed in the film, and the paradigm shift that Socha will endure. Socha is a observer in awe of what he sees in the forest, but he too will become an exploiter, and then exhibit false hubris. At first, Socha’s family, like many others, are barely scrapping by during the war. He pressures the group of Jews to cough up as much money as they can, and Socha keeps the pressure on for quite some time.
A majority of the film is shot in the sewers and the darkness surrounds and hides the group. They huddle together dividing food and continue with the domestic disputes that had existed prior to the ghetto sweep. Rats also inhabit the sewers, a metaphor that conveys both the huddling of the Jews and the constant threat of the Nazis. The camera captures the underworld with the minute amount of lighting mostly provided by the flashlights, yet the characters are crystal clear. The darkness is not only physical, it is social. The group only hears of news every so often; they are in literally in the dark when it comes to knowing the status of the war or the ones they love.
While In Darkness is a inspirational story of survival; but being inspired to write a review of the film is a different story of survival. At over two hours in length, the film is consistently relentless in its horrors of ethnic cleansing which certainly clear and present. In Darkness shows the lengths the desperate will go in order to survive and the anxieties that arise within all who are involved. No matter how sensitive the subject may be, the film contains so many characters it is difficult to follow the labyrinth of the sewers and the interactions between some of the minor characters.
Director Agnieszka Holland who was also responsible for another devastating depiction of the Holocaust, Europa Europa. Where Europa Europa chronicled a Jewish teenager’s attempt to assimilate in to the Hitler Youth, In Darkness examines the difficulties of a group of Jewish men, women, and children hiding in the most vile of places in an urban city. Secrets is a continuing theme in Holland’s work, especially with her work on The Secret Garden, as well as her work on several HBO original series.
Despite my own lack of total interest, In Darkness has received universal acclaim and was nominated for an Best Foreign Picture at the 2011 Academy Awards. The sensitive subject matter and the inspirational story of survival seems to be missing something. The story is told effectively, but the spectators may also be left in the dark.