The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009)

The story of Irena Sendler, a social worker who was part of the Polish underground during World War II and was arrested by the Nazis for saving the lives of nearly 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto.

Director:

John Kent Harrison

Writers:

John Kent Harrison, Larry Spagnola (as Lawrence John Spagnola)

Stars:

Anna Paquin, Marcia Gay Harden, Goran Visnjic

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Paquin	...	Irena Sendler[owa]
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Janina Krzyzanowska
Goran Visnjic	...	Stefan Zgrzembski
Nathaniel Parker	...	Dr. Majkowski
Steve Speirs	...	Piotr
Paul Freeman	...	Monsignor Godlewski
Michelle Dockery	...	Ewa Rozenfeld
Danuta Stenka	...	Hanna Rozenfeld
Iddo Goldberg	...	Jakub Rozenfeld
Maja Ostaszewska	...	Jadwiga
Krzysztof Pieczynski	...	Dr. Janusz Korczak
Rebecca Windheim	...	Karolina Rozenfeld
Olga Boladz	...	Zofia
Leigh Lawson	...	Rabbi Rozenfeld
Scott Handy	...	Michal Laski

Storyline

The story of Irena Sendler, a social worker who was part of the Polish underground during World War II and was arrested by the Nazis for saving the lives of nearly 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto.

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Plot Keywords:

social worker | warsaw ghetto | foot torture | poland | anti semitism | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

CBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian German Latvian Polish

Release Date:

19 April 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (#58.3)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baltmedia,CBS,Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film's opening prologue states: "World War II rages through Europe. In occupied Poland, the Germans have established the Warsaw Ghetto for all the Jewish residents of the city. Over 440,000 Jews are forced inside its walls . . . There are some Poles who want to help . . . "

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Quotes

Irena Sendler [owa]: One child is not enough!

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Connections

Edited into Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)

User Reviews

Really moving movie

I knew very little about Irena Sendler before watching this movie. But after seeing it, I simply feel ashamed that we don't know more about the real heroes of the Second World War Although many already figured out, this is a true story about a young Polish woman's and fellow brave Warsaw citizens, passionately engaged in helping thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation of Poland. With such a powerful, dreadful story behind, it is really hard to make a movie that won't be touching, but The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler is much more than that. It start a bit slower, drawing the terrible conditions of Warsaw Ghetto, while we watch how the monstrous "Final Solution" for extermination of Jewish people taking its full strength. From the second half, movie is gaining on speed and intensity and really nail the watcher to the chair until the very end. The crew is very good, lead by wonderful Anna Paquin, who marvelously portrayed extremely courageous and bit dreamy Polish girl.

As one of the reviewers already said - this is not a typical Hallmarks movie, but certainly the great one. And I really recommend it for watching, if not more to the honor of braves such Irena Senler was.