Angry Harvest
by Agnieszka Holland
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anita Höfer, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gerd Baltus, Wojciech PszoniakDirector: Agnieszka Holland
Brand: MUELLER-STAHL,ARMIN
Writer: Agnieszka Holland
Producer: Artur Brauner
Producer: Klaus Riemer
Producer: Klaus-Dieter Lehmann
Writer: Hermann H. Field
Writer: Paul Hengge
Writer: Stanislaw Mierzenski
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Homevision
Movie Reviews of Angry Harvest
Movie Review: Unique Holocaust movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I am really glad I discovered "Angry Harvest", a 1985 German movie, which turned out to be a unique Holocaust drama centering on two individuals. The talented Armin Mueller Stahl plays Leon, a wealthy Polish farmer of German descent who has worked his way up from his humble beginnings and earned the respect of his peers. Despite his wealth, Leon, a devout Catholic, is unmarried and extremely lonely, confessing to constant masturbation to his priest. Leon's life takes a drastic turn when he discovers Rosa, a Jewish woman hiding in the woods [she had escaped a train transport headed to a concentration camp with her husband and young child but got separated in the process].
Initially, Leon's motives in sheltering Rosa seem altruistic, especially since it poses a great risk to him [sheltering Jews during the Nazi occupation was punishable by death]. But, we soon get the sense that Leon has hidden motives - he craves companionship, and falls in love with Rosa, though the relationship does seem driven more by lust on the part of Leon. He also wishes for Rosa to convert to Catholicism, and tutors her in catechism, hoping to 'reform' her and put her on the right path to absolution. Faith seems to be the furthest thing from Rosa's mind, and the only thing that seems to keep her going is to be reunited with her husband, though by capitulating to Leon's advances, she seems to have lost the faith that her husband may be alive.
Besides the strange dynamics of Leon and Rosa's captive-captor relationship, other events give us more insight into Leon's character. He seems outwardly disgusted by the injustices inflicted by the Nazis upon the Jews and others, but when he is asked to help a Jew in hiding, a Mr Rubin, he balks at helping the man, though Rosa manages to change his mind. When a member of the Polish Underground asks him to assist them, he readily agrees, but when he realises the situation puts him at extreme risk, he casually passes on the responsibility to an innocent woman with tragic consequences.
Only at the end, when it's rather too late, does he try to atone for his misdeeds, but the absolution that he craves comes rather too late. I think the ending can be interpreted differently by viewers - it can be either seen as Leon receiving some sort of absolution for his transgressions or it can be viewed as a man who still carries a heavy weight on his conscience. Either way, this is a powerful human and Holocaust drama that deserves a wider audience.
There are no extras on this DVD, and this German production does come with English subtitles.
Summary of Angry Harvest
A Polish farmer falls in love with a Jewish woman who has escaped with her family from a train bound for a concentration camp and he hides the fact that her husband is still alive.Genre: Foreign Film - Other
Rating: UN
Release Date: 5-SEP-2006
Media Type: DVD
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