Money talks in the Polish World War II drama, “In Darkness.”
It’s based on the true story of a Catholic sewer inspector and petty thief, Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), who provided underground sanctuary to a dozen Jews — risking the lives of himself, his wife and his daughter. He acted not out of benevolence, as Schindler ultimately did, but because the Jews offered him more money than the Nazis would for turning them in. Still, Socha redeemed himself: Even when they ran out of money, he continued to protect them.
Director Agnieszka Holland (“Europa, Europa’’) chronicles the 14 months refugees spent in the claustrophobic, rat-infested sewers beneath the city of Lvov. The movie is dark — not only in theme, but because most of it takes place in lightless confines. The two-hour-plus running time adds to viewers’ claustrophobia.
Holland has said that she wanted her harrowing and rewarding epic to run long so it would make viewers feel that they’re in the sewers as well. In this, she succeeds.