Agnieszka Holland can make far better movies - her later one, In Darkness, is a great example of very fine and precise filmmaking, but here she did several mistakes which belittled and virtually midget-ed a very exciting story and a very thrilling plot. To begin with, the color scheme is very poor and makes you feel a bit wondered - er, why. Then, it is obvious that the film was made in the cheap and all those laughable plane models, highly unrealistic bombing scenes and rather sketchy big crowd frames show the mere lack of money, and that all is too obvious and really turns the attention away from following the plot. There are many clichés and very trite moments that we are sock and tired of, such as the very wooden portrayal of Soviet officers or Nazi officials - nay, Agnes, they were far more cunning and sly, not those caricature dimwits as in the film. Some scenes are just hilarious and totally unnecessary and only make you feel a bit fooled - er, what for. Unnecessary much attention to certain aspects also makes a general feeling a bit skewed and not serious. What is also not good, there are very highly improbable moments here and now - like those of Stalin's son, or barn on fire, or Polizei building bombing, or brotherly meeting - they are all very, very unnatural and utterly strange. Much can be said about rather sloppy performance of quite many actors, but not now. This is a very weak film and none close to Holland's better works
Review of Europa Europa
