Context - it's a film about Jedwabne.
Having worked briefly with Dariusz Jabłoński - the film's producer - I have every respect for him. I also think it is difficult to make an artistically-viable film about such a complicated topic without necessarily having to make painful shortcuts. I mean, for goodness sake, just think about every film dramatization of a book you've read.
However, I feel this film went too far in portraying the Polish people involved in this nefarious massacre of 40 Jews as representatives of an ethnic group whose rabid anti-semitism was fired up by the Jews' historic guilt for killing Christ (!!) and had nothing to do with complicated inter-communal feuding linked with collaboration by some Jews with the recently-departed Bolshevik occupiers (who had slaughtered Polish resistance fighters; but Jewish Poles also suffered under the Russians ...). To be fair to Tomasz Goss, he did report more of this background than the film-makers, including Jews being paraded around having to hold a bust of Lenin. [Ironic, seeing as he had massive complexes about not being anywhere near as Jewish as most of his comrades and came out with outrageously racist comments about Russians, read Volkogonov for details.] Also featuring a crucifixion in modern-day Poland (2000!!) is frankly absurd.
Perhaps it's not surprising that the main funding came from Russia, which relentlessly churns out anti-Polish propaganda.
But my only question is: Should the Polish tax payer fund a film project of this type, which goes over the top in blackening Poland's international image?
Having worked briefly with Dariusz Jabłoński - the film's producer - I have every respect for him. I also think it is difficult to make an artistically-viable film about such a complicated topic without necessarily having to make painful shortcuts. I mean, for goodness sake, just think about every film dramatization of a book you've read.
However, I feel this film went too far in portraying the Polish people involved in this nefarious massacre of 40 Jews as representatives of an ethnic group whose rabid anti-semitism was fired up by the Jews' historic guilt for killing Christ (!!) and had nothing to do with complicated inter-communal feuding linked with collaboration by some Jews with the recently-departed Bolshevik occupiers (who had slaughtered Polish resistance fighters; but Jewish Poles also suffered under the Russians ...). To be fair to Tomasz Goss, he did report more of this background than the film-makers, including Jews being paraded around having to hold a bust of Lenin. [Ironic, seeing as he had massive complexes about not being anywhere near as Jewish as most of his comrades and came out with outrageously racist comments about Russians, read Volkogonov for details.] Also featuring a crucifixion in modern-day Poland (2000!!) is frankly absurd.
Perhaps it's not surprising that the main funding came from Russia, which relentlessly churns out anti-Polish propaganda.
But my only question is: Should the Polish tax payer fund a film project of this type, which goes over the top in blackening Poland's international image?