Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

The Sorrow and the Pity isn't a film for your everyday movie goer. This is one that takes some commitment and some effort. If you give the movie a little, it will offer its rewards in return.

Why is commitment and effort required? For starters, it's about 4 1/2 hours long. Not only that, it’s a documentary. Want to make it even less commercial? ...it has subtitles. So, right off the bat you can see that it's not everyone's idea of a good time.

But, if you're not scared away by my intro and you have 4 1/2 hours to eat up, you ought to give it a try. It's probably not the easiest movie to find. But, I guess some video store will have it somewhere in the back. I saw it at a little art theater here in Kansas.

The disclaimer is now over. Here is why you should see the movie...

The first and foremost reason you should see this movie is that it’s a movie about people. Sure, it takes place around the time of the war. Also, the dialogue has a lot to do with World War 2. But, what makes this movie so good is that it’s about the people affected by the war.

You get to sit with these people and listen to their struggles as this enormous event unfolds before them. As these interviews take place it really hits home to you that there are people on both sides of the thing. People have honest emotions whether they’re German, American, Ukrainian, or Mexican. The interviews from the Sorrow and the Pity are extremely effective in displaying this.

My biggest problem with the movie is that my only World War II knowledge (which is somewhat required for this film) is from what I learned from Schindler's List, Life is Beautiful, and PT 109. So, I had a hard time following some of the dialogue.

But, regardless of your World War 2 knowledge, you can’t watch a movie like this without imagining what it must have been like to be in these people’s situation. I can be confused by the “politics” of what is happening to someone and still observe their emotions. That’s how I felt during this movie…confused at times as to why certain events where happening, but never confused as to the hurt of the events.

You can watch a movie like Schindler's List and it moves you. …But, it's still a movie. It's hard to explain, but when you get to meet people who this stuff actually happened to (through a movie like this), it powerfully affects you. There's something about real people that you can't get in a film no matter how hard you try. It's too hard to pin a real person's feelings down. One or two things are not what effects how they act. It's a million little things. Not all the characters in this movie went through the horrible stuff of Schindler's List. Really, they didn't even talk about those things very much. But, you can see how the tragedies affecting their story changed their lives.

So, no complaints here. This is really a great movie. It gives you a wonderful look into the lives of the normal people living in the middle of a horrible war. I don't think I'll ever watch it again straight through, but I wouldn't mind watching it in pieces. The next time, I think I'll have someone with me who knows something about World War II and they can explain some stuff to me. If you are interested in World War II at all, or if you are just interested in people this is one you should definitely consider.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older