An American film about Irena Sendler, the Polish woman who saved two and a half thousand Jewish children from the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland, has its Polish premiere today.
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, was premiered on CBS Television in April, attracting an audience of almost ten million. Its Polish version, to go on general release today, is entitled Irena Sendler’s Children.
The daily Rzeczpospolita describes Irena Sendler’s Children as a modest film, tailored to what an average American knows about the Nazi occupation in Poland. In artistic terms, however, it does not stand comparison with such movies as Polanski’s The Pianist and Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. The critic for Rzeczpospolita writes that it is a pity that Irena Sendler’s life has not been made into a movie by Polish filmakers.