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.
- 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
Reviews & comments
Village Voice
pressThe 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...
The Washington Post
pressThere ought to be no lack of firepower in telling this shameful tale. Too often, however, "Bitter Harvest" is guilty of overkill.
Herald Sun
pressThere is a vital, saddening and illuminating story to be told here, and unfortunately, it doesn't always get the chance to make itself heard.
FilmInk
pressTorn between exploring the horrors of Stalin's rule and Yuri and Natalka's relationship, the film opts for an overtly melodramatic tale of love.
Boston Globe
pressPerhaps not the best backdrop for a trite love story, nor does Mendeluk have quite the epic vision of David Lean in "Doctor Zhivago."
Associated Press
pressTeaching 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.
Everyone knows about the Holocaust but few have even heard the word Holodomor. It means ‘death by starvation’ and it refers to the Ukrainian mass famine deliberately engineered by Joseph Stalin during 1932-33. Scholars label it as genocide and estimate between 7 and 10 million deaths were directly linked to Stalin’s policy of de-populating the Ukraine. More...
I found this movie more than just a love story. They used the love story to reach me and possibly many others. No one walked out of the movie theatre when it was played. There was dead silence,. It seemed to shock all those that saw it. I knew the story because my mother who was a child victim of this atrocity. She was ukrainiane and was 7 years old...
Village Voice
pressThe 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...
The Washington Post
pressThere ought to be no lack of firepower in telling this shameful tale. Too often, however, "Bitter Harvest" is guilty of overkill.
Herald Sun
pressThere is a vital, saddening and illuminating story to be told here, and unfortunately, it doesn't always get the chance to make itself heard.
FilmInk
pressTorn between exploring the horrors of Stalin's rule and Yuri and Natalka's relationship, the film opts for an overtly melodramatic tale of love.
Boston Globe
pressPerhaps not the best backdrop for a trite love story, nor does Mendeluk have quite the epic vision of David Lean in "Doctor Zhivago."
Associated Press
pressTeaching 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.
Everyone knows about the Holocaust but few have even heard the word Holodomor. It means ‘death by starvation’ and it refers to the Ukrainian mass famine deliberately engineered by Joseph Stalin during 1932-33. Scholars label it as genocide and estimate between 7 and 10 million deaths were directly linked to Stalin’s policy of de-populating the Ukraine....
I found this movie more than just a love story. They used the love story to reach me and possibly many others. No one walked out of the movie theatre when it was played. There was dead silence,. It seemed to shock all those that saw it. I knew the story because my mother who was a child victim of this atrocity. She was ukrainiane and was 7 years...
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