One to savour

herbtea from , 22nd January, 2010

How wonderful to see a film that is a story with depth and character, that develops, makes you think and is absorbing. Sensitive but not overly sentimental, beautifully cast, acted, written, directed, edited, scored, an all round winner in my view, a fine piece of film making. There's an understated quality that makes it so enduring. I'd buy this to watch again, my guage of a great. Enjoy.

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Sensitive drama about kindness and endurance

rafi from , 16th January, 2010

People devise different ways to deal with their past. Memories can hunt you, torment you, disturb your sleep, halt your breathing. Memories can be so powerful that they might transform your past into present. Jakob was a boy in Poland when the Nazis stormed his house, killed his parents and took his older sister Bella with them. He ran to the woods, when he was found by Athos, a Greek archeologist who saved his life. He took Jakob with him to his home at the beautiful island of Hydra. Later they moved to Canada where both addressed their past by writing. This is a powerful drama about human kindness at a time when humanity was at its all-time low. It's a story about suffering and endurance. The acting is superb: Robbie Kay as young Jakob is just remarkable. He surely has a promising future. Stephen Dillane as the older Jakob is sensitive, kind, humane, fragile and agonized. Rade Serbedzija as Athos gives a powerful performance, so good that you should see the movie just because of him. The role of the women is secondary in this film, but all leave a mark. In the limited time they have on the screen, all are full of character, all shine with beauty: Rosamund Pike as Alex; Ayelet Zurer as Michaela, Rachelle Lefevre as Naomi, and Nina Dobrev as Bella.

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Heavy but rewarding

YeovilEd from , 10th January, 2010

I watched this online as part of my subscription, so I'm quite surprised that this could be the first review and that so few people have left a rating - perhaps it's not been available for long. Surprise because it's really not the sort of film that can pass you by - when I'd seen the trailer on another DVD this had gone straight on my list. The story is absorbing, the acting is generally top-drawer and some of the scenery (Greek islands) is magical. Overal it might feel like it's missing a little something, but as you stop and consider the absolute drama some people are making about the snow right now, it's useful to stop and watch a little reminder of what some people experienced during, and subsequently lived with after, WWII.

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