You
would have thought the British government would have learned their lesson on
appeasement, but apparently not. It has only been a few short years since the
end of WWII, but the new Labour government is determined to avoid embarrassing the
Soviets. The last thing they want to do is open a formal inquiry into the 1940 mass
murder of 22,000 Polish prisoners of war, police officers, community leaders,
and clergy in the Katyn Forest. However, a disillusioned journalist will try to
force their hand when he discovers a fugitive dissident who saw enough to set
the historical record straight in Piotr Szkopiak’s The Last Witness (trailer here), which releases today on VOD.
Stephen
Underwood did not serve in the war, due to a childhood injury that left him
blind in one eye. His brother John rose up through the ranks, becoming a captain,
but he still feels guilty, because he caused the accident. Captain Underwood is
assigned to a Polish displaced person’s camp. The mood there is quite bad,
since the British government no longer recognizes the Polish government in
exile. Despite the respect accorded to Col. Janusz Pietrowski of the Polish
Home Army, the British government would much prefer to see the Polish asylum seekers
return home, where they would surely be imprisoned or worse.
This
is especially true of Mason Mitchell, a young, fast-tracked British Home Office
official. Underwood does not think very much of him. The reporter happens to be
engaged in an affair with his wife, Jeanette, who is also serving at the Polish
camp. Her husband does not much care about such things, but he would never
divorce her, for social and professional reasons. One day, Underwood spies a
Russian trying to pass for a Polish refugee. Intrigued, he discovers that man
was a farmer outside of Smolensk, who witnessed uniformed Polish soldiers
executed by NKVD and Russian military personnel, rather than the Germans, as
the Soviets claimed until 2010. Unfortunately, his interest also draws the
attention of Soviet agents.
Szkopiak’s
film strictly focuses on the cover-up rather than the war crime, unlike Andrzej
Wajda’s Katyn, which encompasses
both. However, it is important to keep in mind both filmmakers had direct
connections to the massacre. Wajda’s father was murdered by the Soviets,
whereas for Szkopiak, it was his grandfather. Arguably, Katyn was Wajda’s final masterwork, whereas Last Witness is essentially a dark but largely conventional
thriller.
Yet,
Szkopiak’s screenplay, co-written with Paul Szambowski, is bursting at the seams
with fascinating political nuggets that are true to the historical record. The so-called
“O’Malley Report” really exists and the British government most definitely did its
best to suppress it. Even more provocative are the hints that Mr. Mitchell is
perhaps a contemporary of the Cambridge Five and their treasonous ilk. Frankly,
there are aspects of this film that will be too smart for some viewers and too
honest for others.
Alex
Pettyfer’s performance as the civilian Underwood is grimly reserved and tightly
disciplined. It is impressive in its way, but it probably would have better
served the film in a supporting role rather than the primary lead. Henry Lloyd-Hughes
makes Mitchell unambiguously slimy, while keeping viewers guessing on several
other points. Will Thorp gives the film steely gravitas as Col. Pietrowski
(perhaps his best work to date), while Robert Wieckiewicz is terrific as the
man who knew too much (a more complicated role than one might assume).
Periodically,
we give lip service to the truth as a higher ideal when it helps grind our
political axes, but too often, the commitment is disingenuous and short-lived.
Katyn is a case in point. Putin is doing his best to walk back the Russian
government’s official declaration of guilt, to the complete disinterest of our
factionalized media. This is therefore a timely and much needed film in many
ways, but it also functions as a gripping (and galling) historical thriller. Highly
recommended, The Last Witness launches
today (5/29) on VOD platforms, including iTunes, and releases next Tuesday
(6/5) on DVD.
