29/46

(about 2 minutes) The opening title card announces that the events take place in the Eastern Borderlands of Poland

Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable story of Irena Gut and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy as she risks her life to save a generation of Jews from the atrocities of the Holocaust.. Although this Canadian film received a theatrical release in Canada much wider than the typical Canadian film, for some reason its distributor, Elevation Pictures, decided not to give the film a significant marketing budget. As a result, the film performed poorly at the box office and was pulled from most theaters by the end of its third week or release.. .

What we do is who we are

. . This is the part of Poland that was invaded by the Soviet Union. Irena Gut Opdike: What does it matter who we are?

BoumMusic by Charles Trenet Lyrics by Charles TrenetPerformed by Charlie and his Orchestra

Irena's Vow Besides beating the Nazis to the punch, the other kind of WWII movie I like is the one that features the unsung heroes who managed to save small groups of Jews. Irena's Vow features Irena Gut, a Polish woman forced into service by the occupying Germans in the city of Tarnopol (now in Ukraine as Ternopil). While working for Major Rugemer, she is assigned to oversee the laundry, and then as the housekeeper of his villa, which was taken from a Polish family. When she sees that all the people in the laundry were to be executed as part of Hitler's plan, she plans to hide them in the same house that the Major now occupies.

If this weren't a true story, I wouldn't believe a word of it

It was so poorly acted, I felt like I was watching a modern costume movie instead of a film that would transport us back in time to the crazy era of Nazi madness. It becomes quite clear, somehow, early on, that Rugemer has a thing for Irena, but it catapults forward when he discovers that Jews are hiding in his home. The pace and transformation from superior to inferior by the Polish lover was so rapid that it simply didn’t make sense in the narrative. Sophie Nélis, as Irena, did a great job with the emotion of compassion, panic, fear, horror, and the courage needed to survive.

The notes in the captions were really sweet

After witnessing the murder of a child on the street by yet another disgraceful “German,” she really goes all in on her risky plan to save as many Jews as possible. I wanted to like this for its bravery in the depths of despair, but it wasn’t entirely well done. I don’t know, nor can I put my finger on it, but I felt it could have been done better. I’m glad it actually happened and people went on to live full lives. https://minpematangsiantar.online/2024/12/10/cia-cat-intelligence-swap-to-dot-polkadot/