Angry Harvest

Rosa, a Jewish woman who escapes from a freight train in Upper Silesia, loses her husband and son. Leon, a Polish farmer living alone, hides her in his cellar. What begins as pity turns into something else as her dependence grows. The film is not interested in a rescue story. It is interested in the rescuer's own desire: Leon is devout, awkward and lonely, and the longer he hides Rosa the more he enjoys the power he holds over her. The film does not treat him as a hero, nor does it call him a monster. The form is enclosed and cold: the farmhouse, the cellar, winter, few exteriors. The tension comes not from danger but from the inequality between two people. Agnieszka Holland directed; it was her first work abroad, a West German production. The source is a novel written by Hermann Field and Stanisław Mierzeński while imprisoned in Poland. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 58th Academy Awards. Armin Mueller-Stahl plays Leon and Elisabeth Trissenaar plays Rosa. Who it is for: viewers who like moral grey zones of the war years and two-hander tension. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a clear hero. The film stays in an uncomfortable place throughout and absolves nobody.