Angry Harvest

Agnieszka Holland's WWII-set Angry Harvest (1984) concentrates on the difficult wartime relationship between a Polish farmer (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and a Jewish Austrian refugee (Elisabeth Trissenaar) he shelters. The film often plays like a warped retread of Lina Wertmüller's Swept Away with a socioeconomic role reversal (the woman comes from a more affluent background), only to be interrupted with thudding theological discussions concerning Judaism's role in the foundation of Christianity. Although initially generous (he nurses the ailing woman back to health), the farmer is later shown to be less-than-sterling, particularly when he has too much to drink, and his benevolence is further tested in a subplot regarding control of an orchard recently confiscated from its Jewish owner. Although it received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, Angry Harvest is surprisingly benign and forgettable: the leads never truly click in their roles, and their lack of emotional bonding, coupled with the awkward screenplay, repeatedly throws the production off-kilter. Holland, of course, was capable of creating better work, as witnessed in her peerless 1990 drama Europa, Europa. But Angry Harvest, presented here on an extra-less disc, is a minor effort. Not recommended. (P. Hall)