Katyn

Tells of the Polish officers who were murdered near Katyn by the Soviet secret service NKWD in the spring of 1940. It is also the story of their relatives, many of whom waited for years for the return of their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers. After the invasion of the German Armed Forces on September 1, 1939, and the occupation of east Poland a few weeks later by the Red Army as a result of the Hitler-Stalin pact, all officers of the Polish Army--including reservists, police officers and intellectuals--were taken into Soviet custody.

If you are expecting this to be some kind of war movie, well you'll be disappointed. There are no combat scenes between the great powers of that time but the scenes are haunting nevertheless.

This is the story of the families who were victims of the massacre. The story speeds through the Nazi/Soviet occupation of Poland during the first half of the movie, then it the pain slowly unfolds as the victim's story are retold. The mass execution scene is something not to be missed. It is brutal and haunting. Officers of the Polish Army are butchered in a factory line, and you'd expect such brutality from the Nazi army but not the Soviets.

The reality is not many people knew that Hitler and Stalin were in cahoots when both armies invaded Poland together, dividing up the country.

It's one of those better movie, acting is good and the pace, though lagging at some places, will keep you interested right to the end.