REVIEWS

THE PAINTED BIRD

A bleak, harrowing and unforgettable wartime saga not for the faint-hearted

Certificate 18 Director Václav Marhoul Cast Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Udo Kier Distributor: Eureka Entertainment

Based on Jerzy Kosinski’s controversial 1965 novel, initially touted as a survivor’s memoir but which turned out to be a work of fiction (with added accusations of plagiarism thrown in), Václav Marhoul’s Czech adaptation is as unflinching and savage as its infamously brutal source material. Taking place in an unspecified Eastern European country during World War II, The Painted Bird is a harsh and bruising odyssey populated by figures who are without a shred of compassion or empathy.

The child at the centre of the drama’s almost ceaseless maelstrom of misery, who is abused repeatedly and rarely meets kindness, symbolises the loss of innocence in times of conflict. His nightmarish wanderings represent the process of dehumanisation and the virulent anti-Semitism Jews