Sobibor (2018)

7.0 /10

Directed by: Konstantin Khabensky

Star Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Christopher Lambert, Mariya Kozhevnikova, Wolfgang Cerny, Maximilian Dirr

Run Time: 117 min
Genre: War Drama
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

Sobibor is based on the real-life events that took place in 1943 German Occupied Poland. It's the story of Soviet Lieutenant and POW Alexander "Sasha" Pechersky (Konstantin Khabensky) who planned and executed the first successful escape from a German Nazi Extermination camp during WW II. It was the official submission from Russia for the 91st Academy Awards.

In 1943, a train arrives at Sobibor Camp with Jewish prisoners with an announcement "Welcome to Sobibor. Welcome to your new lives. This is your new home." None of them was aware of how horrible their lives were going to be there soon.

From the very opening scene of the film, we are served with the horrors of the extermination camp. A group of undressed women was killed in a gas chamber and the insane General watched them till every single woman died. That's just the starting, and actor-director Khabensky never hesitated to show the gruesome life inside the camp. Most of the film focuses on showing brutal methods used to torture the prisoners. A detailed overview of the camp and its daily activities was presented to the viewers. It's not easy to watch all these scenes but yet they are true.

The characters are well developed and introduced one by one to viewers before the finale can take place. Later in the film, each one of them contributes in one way or another to the escape plan. Every actor has given a believable performance. The cinematography by Ramunas Greiciusis is nice. The story is a little bit slow and flawed. In my opinion, the planning part should have been elaborated a little bit more.

Sobibor isn't a perfect war drama film. It has some flaws but it definitely documented a detailed overview of the conditions of prisoners from mental as well as physical perspectives. It shows us the reason why Jews never dared or planned any revolt. All this makes it a powerful and well-crafted film and one must watch it to salute the heroism and courage shown by those people.

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