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75
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Movie Nation Roger Moore
A well-crafted documentary variation on "Defiance," Ukrainian Jews saving themselves by going underground -- literally.
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75
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New York Post Farran Smith Nehme
The film is built from moving, frank interviews with survivors from two families who hid, speaking over and around extensive re-enactments. Passages from the memoir of one family matriarch, Esther Stermer, in many ways the heroine of the tale, also are used as narration.
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67
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The A.V. Club Sam Adams
This story isn't untold, just largely unknown. It's a minor point, perhaps, but a sticky one, a needless elision that blurs the all-important question of how memories, and history, must be recounted to endure. One telling is not enough.
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65
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NPR Mark Jenkins
Although the story is told with narration rather than dialogue, Tobias relies too much on reconstruction. A more inventive melding of documentary and docudrama would have benefited the film, whose most moving scenes all involve real members of the families. A bit more historical and geographic context would also be useful.
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60
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The New York Times Nicolas Rapold
The bare facts of the feat seize the imagination, even if Ms. Tobias's competent documentary doesn't quite rise to the challenge.
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50
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Slant Magazine
A remarkable story made almost unremarkable in the hands of lazy filmmaking.
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40
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Village Voice
The stats relayed at the movie's end...almost have more impact than the narrative.
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40
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Time Out New York David Fear
This story is both uplifting and awe-inspiring. It deserves to be told better.
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