Angry Harvest (1985) User Reviews

A study of love and morality.

[Tom Murray · 8/10 · 1 August 2001]

A lonely German farmer (Armin Mueller-Stahl) hides a lovely, upper-class, Jewish lady from the Nazis. He falls in love with her and avoids helping her to escape; he would rather keep her with him. He hides the signal, that the lady's husband had left to show that he is still alive; the farmer would prefer that the husband be dead. This fascinating and subtle character study, by director Agnieszka Holland, depicts a man, torn between his conscience and his love, in a situation that he is unable to cope with adequately. Mueller-Stahl's performance is superb and very touching.

A Different Sort of War Story

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 20 May 2016]

In the winter of 1942-43, a Jewish family leaps from a train going through Silesia. They are separated in the woods, and Leon, a local peasant who's now a farmer of some wealth, discovers the woman, Rosa, and hides her in his cellar.

What makes this film memorable is how it approaches the World War II era differently from many other films. We have a Jewish family, but there is not really a focus on the Holocaust or even really on the Nazis. We know they are in the background, but not the focus.

There is much that could be discussed about the primary relationship -- is it natural, is it forced? Is there maybe even a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on there? Is the man a hero, a villain, both... or neither? Does he know what he does is wrong?

Grievous Harvest

[RNQ · 8/10 · 23 April 2016]

Some reflections on how badly this film has been served, stemming from my surprise I had never heard of it, when I was looking for the work of Agnieszka Holland. The DVD from CCC Filmkunst, 1984, bears only the English title "Angry Harvest," and no indication that it should be originally "Bittere Ernte," a Harvest not "angry," but "grievous," "spoilt" too like the apples dumped out so that sack can be used for a darker purpose. Or I suppose one could think of Julia Ward Howe's Divinity "trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored," but it never has come to that. The perpetrators of great wrong sit comfortable. We know that the Holocaust cannot be represented in art forms. With the perpetrators too we would destroy the screen. That's why it's odd that Roger Ebert, listed among Critics of this film and usually so generous in his sympathy, should have condemned the movie for not showing enough devastation. The film does something else with Arendt's insight into "the banality of evil." After Sunday mass occupying German soldiers chat with local girls. Property can be acquired in a way that is "perfectly legal" once one knows it was expropriated from a Jew "who probably won't be back to claim it." And thus to Leo Wolny, who is such a nice man and will bring you potatoes if you are out and soothe your fever. This is something different from what the box calls "a compelling story of love and desire." It is about a man and his peers who are "bitterböse," "fiercely evil."

West German War Drama with Elisabeth TRISSENAAR and Armin MUELLER-STAHL

[ZeddaZogenau · 7/10 · 31 January 2024]

In 1986, this remarkable feature film was nominated for an ACADEMY AWARD for Best Foreign Language Film. Directed by Agnieszka HOLLAND, who was also nominated for an ACADEMY AWARD in 1992 for the script for HITLERJUNGE SALOMON, a very intense relationship drama was created.

Somewhere in Upper Silesia towards the end of the Second World War: The Jewish woman Rosa (Elisabeth TRISSENAAR) manages to escape from a train heading to Auschwitz. She is separated from her husband and child. By chance she ends up with the very religious farmer Leon (Armin MUELLER-STAHL), who willingly hides the young woman with him. But this spontaneous willingness to help soon begins to change when the sexually unfulfilled man gets closer to the beautiful Jewish woman...

This very intense and daring chamber play was financed by the successful German producer Artur BRAUNER (1918-2019) with his CCC FILMKUNST and was released in West German cinemas on February 20, 1985. The film clearly lives from the impressive performance of ACADEMY AWARD nominee Armin MUELLER-STAHL (he was nominated in 1997 for his role in SHINE) and the recently deceased Elisabeth TRISSENAAR (1944-2024). Both play with full physical effort and show a frightening mixture of sexual exploitation and existential abandonment. A tough topic that is certainly not intended for the large audience. However, this impressive feature film still deserves a little greater recognition.

Another side of war and prosecution

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 22 May 2016]

"Bitter Ernte" or "Angry Harvest" is a West German German-language movie that had its 30th anniversary last year and was written and directed by Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland. Just like her work "Hitlerjunge Salomon", this one has its focus on life during World War II, but not on the military actions or politicians from that time. Instead the story here is about a Jewish woman who manages to jump from a train that was supposed to get her to a concentration camp. The entire film (100 minutes approximately) is about the woman's life at a local farmer's shack. The man decides to take her into his house, but his motives are far from those of a good samaritan, especially as we know all along she is married and her husband may have succeeded with his flight too. Armin Mueller-Stahl plays the epitome of an anti-hero here and definitely deserved his German Film Award nomination. If lead actress Trissenaar does so too, I am not sure, but I guess the duo carried the film nicely because they are together in here in the majority of scenes.

This film was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to the Argentinean entry back then. It is another solid installment in the way Germany worked on dealing with the aftermath of World War II and for Mueller-Stahl and Holland, it is among their most important and most known works. Even if I was not entirely impressed by this film, I still liked the focus Holland put in here and also how she managed a strong balance between happy and unhappy moments throughout the entire film. The way people talk in these 1970s and 1980s film seems occasionally a bit weird by today's standards, but I guess we just have to cope with that. And maybe they really spoke like that back then. It's also not so bad that it destroys the viewing experience somehow. Trissenaar's character is somewhat interesting as she must be among the most miserable characters in film history. Fighting for survival, she makes a couple bad decisions in her sad situation that ultimately lead to tragedy. From that perspective, the character was a crucial addition in this film, but I still believe it was more due to Holland's writing than the actress giving a great performance. Anyway, I am okay with the Oscar nomination and also okay with the fact that it did not win as it is a good, but great movie, mostly carried by Mueller-Stahl. A good watch for everybody with an interest in Nazi Germany and what life was like back then. I recommend it.

strong but uneven drama

[mjneu59 · 5/10 · 3 November 2010]

The ambiguous morals of a poor farmer in occupied Poland lead to despair after he shelters an attractive Jewish refugee in his cellar during World War II. The initial act of kindness quickly degenerates into a masochistic tug-of-war: the farmer's infatuation soon gives way to sexual obsession, and the captive runaway is forced to accept his twisted affection to avoid being exposed. The script is strong, the performances are excellent (in particular Armin Müller-Stahl as the repressed Catholic peasant); but the total effect is curiously uneven, as if a powerful drama, handled with perhaps too much detachment, got lost somewhere in translation.

I did not care too much for the movie's ending

[jordondave-28085 · 5/10 · 10 May 2023]

(1985) Angry Harvest/ Bittere Ernte (In German with English subtitles) DRAMA WAR

Adapted from Hermann H. Field novel centers on an old single impotent Austrian farmer, Leon Wolny (Armin Mueller-Stahl) during WWII, secluding a middle aged Jewish lady, Rosa Eckart (Elisabeth Trissenaar) into his secret cellar. At first, she resists his advances since she's assuming that her husband might still be alive, but she eventually gives in to his advances, since as he tells her she was exactly what he was looking for as a wife.

I was involved until the end, for the actions almost contradicts what viewers initially saw in much of the movie, leaving me with more questions than it gives viewers answers, such as he could've informed her that her husband's still alive, if she didn't want to leave.