Hatred

The summer of 1939, Volhynia. The region is then within Poland and its population is mixed: Poles, Ukrainians and Jews live in the same villages. Zosia is a young Polish girl in love with a Ukrainian named Petro. Her family marries her to an older Pole. Then the war begins. First the Soviet army comes, then the Germans. Each arrival changes the order and relations between neighbours break down. In 1943 large scale massacres of Polish civilians take place in the region. Wojtek Smarzowski directs. Michalina Łabacz plays Zosia. It is a Polish production. The events behind the narrative are historical: the Volhynia massacres remain a contested subject between Poland and Ukraine, and the film drew political reaction in both countries on release. Its violence is explicit and continuous; the narrative softens no scene, and that choice stayed at the centre of the criticism. The narrative does not blame one side alone, but its point of view sits with the Polish characters, and that is part of the argument. Its first section builds village life in detail and carries the weight of the second half. Smarzowski is a director who treats hard subjects directly in Polish cinema, and this is his most argued over work. The narrative saves no character and the ending is without hope. Who it is for: viewers who like historical war drama and can watch difficult subjects. Who it is not for: the violence is extremely heavy, it is hard to watch, and the subject is politically contested.