This is a laudable but badly directed exhumation of a terrible massacre committed by the Soviet Communist Party in 1940.
The killing of some 15,000 Polish army officers in the Katyn forest still resonates over the country. Until the fall of Russian communism in 1989 details were unknown as to what happened to these officers, with the Russians blaming the Germans for the massacre. In 1992, Boris Yeltsin finally admitted that the massacre had been directly authorized by Joseph Stalin.
Obviously this is a subject that the world needs to see—but it’s one that deserves a better director than Andrzej Wajda.
Wadja—a veteran of Polish cinema—fails to provide an emotional core to his film. There are just too many characters, none of whom we are given time to connect with, and many that are introduced and never seen again. It makes for a confusing and unsatisfying watch.
The closest we come to a sympathetic storyline is that of Anna, wife of Army General Andrzej, who is separated from her husband when he’s taken off to a Soviet concentration camp. Both Maja Ostaszewska as Anna and Artur Zmijewski as Andrzej have a fair crack at their roles, but often seem bogged down by the self-important dialogue.
It is a shame that for the most part, “Katyn” is talky, plodding, and overly aware of its own significance. The shocking denouement, as the soldiers are mercilessly shot by the Soviets, is too little, too late.
Worthy and dull—it’s a bad combination.
