Within the Whirlwind

2009
6.7| 1h50m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 18 September 2009 Released
Producted By: Telepool
Country: Poland
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

During Stalin's reign of terror, Evgenia Ginzburg, a literature professor, was sent to 10 years hard labor in a gulag in Siberia. Having lost everything, and no longer wishing to live, she meets the camp doctor and begins to come back to life.

Genre

Drama

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Director

Marleen Gorris

Production Companies

Telepool

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Within the Whirlwind Audience Reviews

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
marciserentant Really , I liked the film - especialy the nice camerawork. The story is what is could be and known fot this period in Russia. But Russion people speaking English ? I' can't stand it. It's unbelievable. Please do this never again for such kind of production. Realy a pitty.
artqua This movie enthralled me from the beginning. The acting, across the board, is top- notch. Look for Ian Hart as a very different character than he played in the first Harry Potter movie (Professor Quirrell). I can't say enough about the lead characters. If you like learning about history, even the ugly parts, then see this movie. By the way, it is in English.
jlthornb51 Emily Watson is arguably the finest actor of our time, male or female. Regarding this film, there is certainly no possible debate. Watson is nothing less than magnificent. In a breathtaking performance of incredible magnitude, she sets the screen ablaze with her stunning talent. A fantastically gifted actor, Emily Watson can express more emotion with her eyes or a glance than even 50 pages of dialog. She takes the character she portrays in this film and creates a living, flesh and blood human being we can not help but embrace. It is an emotional tour de force and a performance of stunning power and depth. While Watson always does exemplary work in every production, this particular role is a masterpiece. That this motion picture was not widely released and did not have the impact it should have upon the public is an outrage. That Emily Watson received no Oscar or BAFTA nomination a crime.
torrentstorm Yevgenia Ginzburg was a literature Professor in the University of Kazan in the 1930's. In those days, Kazan, was a Russian province, under the control of Moscow, with Stalin at the peak of his power. Those days were among the darkest times in Russian history, days marked with persecution, treachery, executions, mass disappearances of anyone considered an enemy of the State or Stalin, whether real or invented. Those were the days when the infamous Russian Gulags were in full force, concentration camps set in the bitter Siberian landscape, marked with hardships, and the long, bitter, below 50+ Celsius winters. Those were the days when both men's and women's mettles were tested to the limit, where people showed either their better sides or their worst. The spirit and strength of survival was the constant companion of such then. This movie is based on Ms. Ginzburg's memoirs, "Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives", where she was banished for 12 years for allegedly participating in the Trotskyist terrorist counter-revolutionary group, a group accused of conspiring against the Russian state by plotting the defeat of the then U.S.S.R. by capitalist countries, and murder their communist leaders. Stalin's purges targeted all these, among others. The labor, suffering, solidarity, survival, of Ginzburg and her fellow inmates are vividly depicted in this biographical epic. You will see incomprehensible hatred among the prisoners of different backgrounds. You will see deep sacrifices people had to make to stay alive. You will see gang violence and rape, as women were forced to sell their bodies for a loaf of bread. You will see prisoners having to make good judgments as to whom to trust and whom not as a key to survival. You will see heroic actions taken by everyday people to protect each other from death from the elements or from being simply shot by the brutal guards. And you will see deep gratitude, simple happiness even if for just a moment, and motherly love. The ensuing love between the camp's doctor and Ginzburg was, I believe, a just reward for the immense trials these two had endured over the years. The ending, which I will not spoil for you, will leave your mind turning for a while, and then, wonder in amazement. Ms. Watson was at her best. All the parts were well done. Veteran actor Ian Hart as the infamous Beylin was excellent. That part when he yells at Ginzburg when she refused to sign her confession - even I was startled; it was well done. There was no attempt to dress up any parts or make them over emotional or sentimental. No, the story unfolds as it would in everyday life, in black and white, with no attempt to overdress anything. If any parts drive you to tears, it is from imagining how and what you would have done had you been there. I lived in Russia for 3 years, working as a University Professor. Much of what I saw in the movie triggered old memories. I found myself saying over and over, "Just as I saw it!" The intrigues surrounding your job and status in Russia is still accurate to this day, although the danger of imprisonment no longer exists. So, dear friends, if you wish to spend the better part of 2 hours watching a story which will keep you spellbound and mesmerized until the end, without a moment of boredom, this is the movie to watch, enjoy, and appreciate. A story of people having lost all will to live, and how with a little help and compassionate love, this will is renewed. This is the story of one woman whose strength and determination inspired others, as it still does today, as I hope will inspire you as well.