Spring 1941 (2008) Review

Spring 1941 (2008)

Directed by Uri Barbash

Starring Joseph Fiennes, Neve McIntosh, Kelly Harrison, Clare Higgins, and Maria Pakulnis

rklenseth's Star Rating:

This film is a about a Jewish family on the run and hiding in Poland after the Nazis have invaded in the spring of 1941.  After escaping the ghetto that they were imprisoned in, Artur (Joseph Fiennes) and Clara Planck (Neve McIntosh) and their eldest daughter take refuge in the attic of a farmhouse of a young woman named Emilia (Kelly Harrison) of whom they bought produce from in the past.  The story also interweave with the story of a much older Clara (Clare Higgins) in 1971 as she returns to Poland for the first time after World War II and the spring of 1941 is told in flashbacks as Clara remembers what happened to her and her family.

 

 In 1941, as his family hides in the attic of the farmhouse, Artur takes on the identity of Emilia's missing and most likely deceased husband who was a soldier in the Polish army and, at first, mainly to help around the farm but it quickly becomes apparent that Emilia has an ulterior motive.  With Clara and the daughter hidden away in the attic and out of sight, Emilia begins to show her affection and attraction to Artur and at first Artur resists but it isn't long until she has charmed him into her bed.

While in 1971, Clara visits her family's former home and happens to glimpse a sighting of an older woman on a horse drawn wagon that appears to be Emilia (Maria Pakulnis).  She follows the old lady back to the farmhouse where Clara tries to confront the older Emilia and learn what happened those days of the spring in 1941.  What she learns from Emilia brings closure to Clara's past.

Now the acting in this film is fine with much of the story featuring Joseph Fiennes and Kelly Harrison and their character's love affair.  Fiennes is good and the little known Harrison is decent in the role of the younger Emilia.  Clare Higgins is good as the older Clara in the 1971 storyline.

The story is somewhat disjointed with the back and forth between 1971 and 1941.  The story also lacks the emotional punch that I would expect and what happens to the characters is foreseen in the beginning of the film.  It was pretty much just waiting for the events you knew were going to happen to happen in the story.  By the end of the film and as the older Clara learns of what happened, there aren't any big surprises and, in that respect, the film is a bit of a let down.  I was kind of hoping that what I thought was going to happen would be different.

Overall, this film is an okay movie with good acting but there are much better Holocaust stories out there on film that are worth watching over this.

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