Korczak

Stars: Wojtek Pszoniak (Danton), Ewa Dalkowska. Acclaimed Polish director Andrzej Wajda poignant biographical film about Janusz Korczak stars Wojtek Pszoniak in the title role as a dedicated doctor who runs a home for Jewish orphans in the 1930s. When the blitzkrieg rolls across Poland in 1939, and the Jewish population is sequestered in the ghetto, Korczak remains with his young charges rather than fleeing to the west with his friends and colleagues. Here, he struggles to keep his children fed and continually fights off the threat of deportation. Embittered (at one point Korczak says sarcastically to a shopkeeper "Is that human sausage? It's too cheap to be horsemeat"), Korczak nevertheless maintains dignity in himself and his children (admonishing the hopeless that "death is easy, but life is terribly difficult"), right up until the heartrending conclusion. Written by Agnieszka Holland (director of the new The Secret Garden), and beautifully shot by Robby Muller, Korczak is a moving portrait of an island of human decency standing rock solid in a sea of inhumanity. Audience: Foreign film fans, for sure. Also, those interested in WWII and the Holocaust. (R. Pitman)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Aug. 14, 2012—Kino, 117 min., in Polish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $34.95—Making its first appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1990's Korczak sports a nice transfer with mono sound. Bonus features include a stills gallery and trailers. Bottom line: a welcome high-def debut for this powerful foreign film.]