Village Voice
The low-budget aesthetic was probably unavoidable, but a subject like the Holodomor demands something more than a TV-movie aesthetic and pitched battle scenes featuring a couple dozen combatants...
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Bitter Harvest
Max Irons and Samantha Barks lead this war drama set against the backdrop of the Holodomor, the man-made famine that saw millions of Ukranians starve to death between 1932 and 1933.
As Stalin advances the ambitions of the burgeoning Soviet Union, a young artist named Yuri (Irons) battles to survive famine, imprisonment and torture to save his childhood sweetheart Natalka (Barks). Against this tragic backdrop, Yuri escapes from a Soviet prison and joins the anti-Bolshevik resistance movement as he struggles to reunite with Natalka and continue the fight for a free Ukraine.
Less2017Rating: M, Mature themes and violence103 minsCanada
DramaRomanceWar
- Director:
- George Mendeluk ('The Kidnapping of the President', 'Meatballs III: Summer Job')
- Writer:
- Richard Bachynsky Hoover
- Cast:
- Max IronsSamantha BarksTerence StampBarry PepperTamer HassanAneurin BarnardTom AustenRichard Brake
Bitter Harvest | Reviews
15%61 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
The Washington Post
There ought to be no lack of firepower in telling this shameful tale. Too often, however, "Bitter Harvest" is guilty of overkill.
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Herald Sun
There is a vital, saddening and illuminating story to be told here, and unfortunately, it doesn't always get the chance to make itself heard.
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FilmInk
Torn between exploring the horrors of Stalin's rule and Yuri and Natalka's relationship, the film opts for an overtly melodramatic tale of love.
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Boston Globe
Perhaps not the best backdrop for a trite love story, nor does Mendeluk have quite the epic vision of David Lean in "Doctor Zhivago."
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Associated Press
Teaching important history to younger generations via popular culture is always a worthy cause. It's just that soaking this sobering story in a soppy romance does little to advance that cause.
Full reviewBitter Harvest | Release Details
Bitter Harvest is available to stream in Australia now on Apple TV.