You won't be disappointed!

Memorable, crazy movie

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Construction worker returns, meagrely equipped, from the US to his anti-Semitic Polish village to spend time with his farmer brother, whose eccentric collecting habits have, it emerges, estranged not only his wife and family but also the villagers. They and the brothers' late farming parents have a past that requires some detective work to unravel in an increasingly disconcerting history. Short on humour (unless that is supposed to be found in the amnesiac shopper) or much female interest, the story moves in fits and starts with some lack of confidence in its pacing, and occasional clunkiness of narrative and symbolism. An important line of comment, towards the end, fails to make the sub- titles. As so often happens, the director feels the need to substitute frantic for grim, and the characterisation of the brothers is not altogether sure-footed. More than competently shot by Pawel Edelman (The Pianist) with a muted teal-and-orange colour palette, but with somewhat clumsy Foley, this is not a delicate film: less Ida, more Straw Dogs, though thematically linked with both, and perhaps with a too- generous helping of Polish self-flagellation. Moral, but not uplifting, it ultimately leaves the viewer in a void. However, a robust, and certainly not wasted, 104 minutes.

"Aftermath" (2012 release from Poland: 2014 DVD release in the US; 107 min.) brings the fictional story of the aftermath of WWII in a rural village in Poland. As the movie opens, we see Francis Kalina landing at Warsaw's airport. We later learn that he basically left/fled Poland for the US when General Jaruzelski declared martial law in 1981 and that this is his first time back in 20 years (thus setting the movie in the early '00s). Francis comes to visit his younger brother Jozef who runs a small farm. It's not long before we notice that the villagers seem to despise Jozef. We then learn that Jozef has taken a personal interest in restoring tomb stones of local Jews who were murdered by the Germans in WWII, and Jozef is recreating a cemetery on his farm one by one with the tomb stones he recovers. Meanwhile, in a parallel story, things seem askew with the property title of Jozef's farm. To tell you more about this plot-heavy movie would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: I saw this movie recently at a film festival (more on that later). I had never heard of the movie, and didn't know anything about it or the plot going in. I was surprised how long it took for the true story lines to emerge. When Jozef, the younger brother, is assaulted in a café a good 30-40 min. into the movie for no apparent reason, I made the mental note... "why?". The story line involving the property titles is developed even later, about an hour into the movie. Frankly, by then I was about to give up on the movie. I decided to hang in there, and yes, the last 30-40 min. redeem the movie to a degree. Perhaps one of the reasons that I had trouble connecting is that I was not all that impressed with the acting performances, I mean, you truly watch them "act" when in a film you shouldn't feel as if you are watching "acting", you know what I mean? All that aside, the historic background and ulterior intentions of the movie can never be in doubt, and just from that angle, this is something people should watch.I recently saw "Aftermath" at the 2015 Jewish & Israeli Film Festival here in Cincinnati. The screening was sold out, but more importantly, the organizers have assembled a top-notch quality line-up of movies such as The Green Prince, Dancing in Jaffa, and The Third Half, just to name those. As a movie buff and a support of the Israeli cause, I absolutely love this festival. As to "Aftermath", the movie is well-intended but takes forever to establish, so I'm giving it a mixed 3.5 stars: not bad but not great either.

Obsessed with righting a wrong, a small-time farmer manages to put himself at odds with his family as well as neighbors when his actions threaten to reveal a long-hidden and notorious secret of a little community. His brother, returning after thirty years abroad, gets caught in the turmoil. Uncertain of the magnitude of the emotions they are dealing with, the depth of concealed pain, or even what exactly happened and who deserves the blame, the two brothers struggle as much with each other as they do attempting to make things right. The story is intriguing from the outset and the few actors are capable, yet depth is lacking in terms of dialog, scenery, and events. The characters do not seem as genuine or animated as they might be.

Not too long ago, many were slaughtered, and there was a fraction that got all the attention and the blame. The problem is that there were parties that just stood by while others committed these crimes and/or either approved or even participated in their execution. The film explores how there was more to history than we have been exposed to, that the horrors were worse than anything we could imagine, and the devil shows his ugly face in more than one way.Two brothers find themselves at the heart of the story, which begins as a some type of thriller/conspiracy the likes of which we have seen before. For a while the spirit of "Chinatown" comes to mind, and a beautifully crafted film slowly unfurls a narrative where the mystery expands, the cast of the dueling parties grows as new layers are revealed, and eventually the film combines elements seen in old fashioned thrillers, horror movies, and even a touch of noir here and there.What takes the film to a higher category is that what we see here has basis on real historical events, and as we realize this, our souls hurt because the pain is too much, and it might be that there is the possibility that we can become one of the parties involved. After all, free will has always been at the core of the worst human decisions in history. Either we want to destroy, to save, or to remain quiet and allow the evils to continue and grow. Liars have for years assisted those who either killed or stole, and they condoned quietly the actions of others by not interfering.Films like these makes us remember how ignorant we are, in many different degrees by either not learning enough, not being willing to change and by not facing what really exists in our own souls.