Sobibor (2018) User Reviews

The Unknown Story of an Escape

[MovieAnalysis · 7/10 · 6 June 2020]

Sobibor is based on the real-life events that took place in 1943 German Occupied Poland. It's the story of Soviet Lieutenant and POW Alexander "Sasha" Pechersky (Konstantin Khabensky) who planned and executed the first successful escape from a German Nazi Extermination camp during WW-II. It was the official submission from Russia for 91st Academy Awards.

In 1943, a train arrives at Sobibor Camp with Jewish prisoners with an announcement "Welcome to Sobibor. Welcome to your new lives. This is your new home." None of them was aware that how horrible their lives are going to be there soon.

From the very opening scene of the film, we are served with the horrors of the extermination camp. A group of undressed women was killed in a gas chamber and the insane General watch them till every single woman dies. That's just the starting, and actor-director Khabensky never hesitated to show the gruesome life inside the camp. Most of the film focuses on showing brutal methods used to torture the prisoners. A detailed overview of the camp and it's daily activities was presented to the viewers. It's not easy to watch all these scenes but yet they are true.

The characters are well developed and introduced one by one to viewers before the finale can take place. Later in the film, each one of them contributes in one way or another in the escape plan. Every actor has given a believable performance. Cinematography by Ramunas Greiciusis is nice. The story is a little bit slow and flawed. In my opinion, the planning part should have been elaborated a little bit more.

Sobibor isn't a perfect war drama film. It has some flaws but it definitely documented a detailed overview of the conditions of prisoners from mental as well as physical perspective. It shows us the reason why Jews never dared or planned any revolt. All this makes it a powerful and well-crafted film and one must watch it to salute the heroism and courage shown by those people.

Important

[bryangary65 · 7/10 · 17 August 2019]

..to watch these sort of films no matter how hard it might be.

As we should never forget what happened in these World War 2 concentration camps.

Impressive only in portions !!

[madhukar30 · 6/10 · 27 September 2020]

Holocaust is a very difficult subject to talk, far more difficult when it comes to the movies, because movies such as Schindler's List, The Pianist, Life is Beautiful and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas have already set a high standards for the genre. "Sobibor" though a valiant attempt by director Konstantin Khabenskiy, to tell the tale of the only breakout from a concentration camp in the nazi occupied Poland, falters in many places.

The biggest problem of "Sobibor" is its character introduction, I believe it lacked detail and was pretty rushed, and it failed miserably in connecting to the minds of audiences. Cinematography was very good, along with production design, make up, costumes and music were par. Casting was a big let down. Acting barring a few scenes, was very average overall, not fitting to a movie of Holocaust genre. But it wasn't bad either. Editing could have been a little better, consider the material they had and the final cut. The usage of multiple languages in movie was rather confusing.

Overall, a good one time watch for audiences sans any expectations. "Sobibor" does has some really good & touching scenes, but has far too many flaws in its screenplay & dubbing. While it may not impress audiences who have watched all "great" Holocaust movies, it would be a good watch to young tech savvy audiences. Though there is nothing impressive in the movie apart from a few scenes, it's a "bit different" in comparison to the Holocaust movies of the past.

Acceptable rendition about actual happenings in the gruesome Sobibor camp and the subsequent mass escape

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 9 January 2022]

Interesting movie about the known breakout from horrible concentration camp .This notable movie deals with extermination center Sobibór and the subsequent getaway. As Soviet officer Alexander Pechersky leads and organizes a revolt and mass escape of prisoners from Sobibór extermination camp in October 1943 . We see horrors , murders and slaughters against the disgraced prisoners who live with the spectre of a violent and sudden death . Thus , when the incoming transports , mostly Jews , SS soldiers made instant decisions , those who were fit to labors were sent into the camp , others including the children , were dispatched immediately to the gas chambers where approximately one-quarter million Jews were executed . Every day the prisoners have to endure untold cruelty at the hands of the guards and . The flick is nicely starred by Konstantin Khabenskiy as prisoner Alexander Pechersky and Christopher Lambert as ruthless commandant Karl Frenzel . Remaining support cast , though unknown provide fine interpretations. The movie contains an engaging storyline based on the book by Ilya Vasiliev: "Alexander Pechersky: Breakthrough to Immortality" , getting a breathtaking and exciting getaway with a sensitive musical score . The film was well realized , developing compellingly the historical recreation of the tortures , distresses , penury , mistreats and massacres of the unfortunate prisoners and eventually the famous escape from the Nazi Death Camp Sobibor . The motion picture was professionally directed by Konstantin Khabenskiy who also stars an essential role giving nice acting . There's another version about this events ¨Escape from Sobibor¨ (1987) by Jack Gold with great actors as Alan Arkin , Joanna Pacula and Rutger Hauer .

The picture is based on real events , these are the following ones : Sobibór , Chelmno , Belzec and Treblinka were four large death camps in the Lublin district of Poland transformed into extermination centers to implement the policy of genocide thought at the Wannsee Conference . Sobibór was an extermination camp of killing center of Jews , part of their Final Solution , including children and located near the Bug River on the border of the German occupied eastern territories . Some 35.000 Dutch Jews , originally assigned to Auschwitz were sent to Sobibór . All four camps were under the command of SS Odilo Globocnick . There was some minor industrial activity linked to the war effort but the main work was the execution of inmates . Victims were brought to the camp in unventilated transports , and all but a handful were gassed after arrival , the gas chambers could accommodate hundred prisoners at one time , most of their corpses were burned in open pits . On October 14, 1943 about 150 inmates broke out in a desperate riot . Of approximately 600 prisoners who attempted escaped in October 1943 , around 300 succeeded . However, nearly all were ultimately recaptured ; only about 60 people survived . Sobibor along with Treblinka and Belzec , was evacuated in the fall of 1943.

Pfffffff...... Difficult but gripping drama

[marcvuijk · 7/10 · 5 May 2021]

Its a documentary more then a movie for me, not the way its filmed but i can't watch this as entertainment, because its a difficult movie to watch and its unbelievable what these people had to go through at the hands of the Nazi's Worth watching as a rememberance to all the fallen and the survivors.

Russian cinema, From Come and See to this.

[boussourir-87845 · 13 May 2021]

***A lot of tearful idiots enjoy this movie simply because it is supposedly an holocaust movie. As if cheering for bad movies that depicts horrible hate crimes makes you a better person. And as if not liking this would make you a holocaust denier. Yes it happened. But almost nothing depicted in that movie happened the way it did.***

Back in the good old soviet days (1985), the Russians made one of the greatest movies about war and nazi atrocities. This was Come and See. A haunting movie with brutal imagery that despite being incredibly traumatizing managed to stay pretty historical.

In 2018 they made this movie. Which is the complete opposite.

This movie deals with the Sobibor revolt. There was a movie in 1987 called Escape from Sobibor that dealt with the same events. Except that the 87 movie is pretty much spot on and this one is complete fiction and garbage.

Christophe Lambert plays Frenzel, an SS officer. He looks old and decrepit and a bit like Boris Karloff in the mummy. The real Frenzel was 32 and had a baby face. In fact all camp SS were pretty young. His acting is cringe worthy and some nonsensical scenes are inserted so that we all understand how evil he is... as if supervising the killing of whole families wasn't evil enough. For those who saw the movie... remember "MEIN VATER MEIN VATER!!!"

At the beginning of the movie we see a voyeuristic gassing of naked women, for shock factor I guess. No research was ever done on the subject, nothing is close to how it happened in this camp. In fact the whole camp looks like a factory, the real one was a couple of houses in a wooded area with large pyres next to a gas chamber hidden in the woods with a path leading to it. Prisoners had to undress in a building then they came out on a path and walked a few meters outside and entered a small building posing as showers, a VERY SMALL building. They diesel engines were started and people died from the exhaust fumes, nothing like that half assed movie showed.

There is a drunken SS party, which eats up time that could be spent telling the real story of the camp. Someone gets burned alive using cognac as fuel... which is completely impossible.

Quite simply, the way everybody behaves in this movie is insulting to the victims of the real events. The whole movie's purpose is to enhance the manlyhood of the main russian prisonner, to show how badass and manly he is. This unfortunately seems to be a general trend in modern russian war movies. Is this due to this country's tendency to slowly drift toward fascism and the associated macho cult that goes hand in hand with it?

If this is the case, how terribly ironic.

Stick with the 1987 movie.

A worthy entry to the 'Death Camp' genre.

[RatedVforVinny · 7/10 · 27 November 2020]

Most Russian movies concerning WW2 are pretty reliable (and certainly watchable), although they seem to be riddled with propaganda and as 'Sobibor' does, depicts all the Germans as as murdering, cartoonish sadists . This is a shame really as they themselves, have so much more right to churn out these films than any other nation.

We should never forget !

[scottmarble · 7/10 · 27 April 2022]

A very important film. Sometimes it is hard to watch. I would recommend " Escape From Sobibor " as a better film, but this film is relevant. It captures the Nazi's evil. The ending has less detail than Escape From Sobibor.

A powerful film that will stay with me a long time

[maccas-56367 · 8/10 · 3 December 2020]

Powerful and underrated. This film will stay with me a long time, along with the true story it depicts.

Is it possible to "enjoy" a film of this type? I would argue "no", but this film succeeded in keeping me gripped and on the edge of my seat. It made me emotional and left me stunned at times. It left me yelling at the screen. I was very engaged and invested in the plight of those in Sobibor.

There are some really tough scenes here (as would be expected). Some scenes work better than others. The film was suffocating in its grittiness and overwhelming grief. Numerous nationalities are depicted here (of which I am none), so I'll leave that up to their respective people as to how accurate or authentic they are portrayed.

It wasn't until later that I discovered Konstantin Khabensky (who plays Sasha) co-wrote and directed the film too. I'm impressed. His performance itself was very moving.

This is the type of film that gets you reading the true story after. I have since been touched to learn more about the likes of Alexander 'Sasha' Pechersky, Stanislaw Szmajzner and other heroes.

The final scene gives you just enough time to absorb the events at Sobibor and to reflect on what happened during the Holocaust. Powerful stuff.

Just ok

[fingordie-332-767216 · 5/10 · 21 August 2019]

Knowing the story well I was eager to watch this but found myself very disappointed. Facts were incorrect and characterisations were weak, not the fault of the actors but of the script. The thing that made 'Escape from Sobibor' so powerful was the gratuitous violence was intimated. And by the way Frenzel was never in charge of the camp!!

True horiffic story

[pamelabills-42947 · 8/10 · 16 October 2021]

Second time watching this movie. I HATE what people do and have done to other people. Movies like Sobibor and also Defiance should be shown in schools so young people see what happened and hopefully (is it too much to hope for?) never let such atrocities happen again.

A not very good film about Sobibor

[vladtepes1456 · 2/10 · 16 July 2022]

Just watch the 1987 movie Escape from Sobibor instead. This new take on Sobibor just seems too contrived and not very realistic. OK it shows the horrific suffering and brutality that went on in these vile places, but it just didn't resonate with me the way in which films like Schindlers List and the Pianist did. I turned this film off halfway and watched the 1987 version instead. Enough said for me.

A Great Story Of Perseverance and Grit!

[sgimera-34917 · 8/10 · 10 March 2021]

Riveting true story of the only successful revolt of a Nazi extermination camp. This film shows the pure evil of the Nazi's, the struggles of various prisoners to either find balance or reconcile their faith with what must be done for the survival of themselves or their loved ones. This stuff still happens today with different clowns in the role of evil idiot!

Escape from sobibor on skymovies

[allanmichael30 · 5/10 · 7 August 2019]

Christopher Lambert stars as Karl Frenzel SS non-commissioned officer in Sobibór who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in killing 150,000 jews until he was released in 1985 for poor health but died in retirement home near Hannover in 1996. The film shows the horrors of the camp and the plan to escape and the resulting escape but not as good as original film. The end titles were hard to read, but when i did were very interesting.

A haunting depiction, worthy of its Oscar nomination

[Tin Man-5 · 10/10 · 13 September 2018]

Holocaust films are easily made exploitive, because, in the words of the late and great Roger Ebert,, "we do not need movies to convince us of the evil of ... the Holocaust," but rather, it is a subject better served in "films ... about the ways good men try to work realistically within an evil system to spare a few of its victims." To merely recount the violence that human beings are capable of perpetuating against each other makes for transgressive reflection rather than a useful one, because it denies us hope. Sobibor passes Ebert's test: From the first scene to the last, the horrors of the Holocaust are contrasted against the humanity of its victims and the courage that they ultimately find to rise up and fight back. It helps that the Sobibor camp is more cinematically satisfying, as it represents one of the only successful uprisings in concentration camps - 400 prisoners successfully escaped, led by Russian soldier Alexander Pechersky, and the third act breakout generates genuine tension as the heroes slowly begin to implement a plan that begins with individual acts of violence and ends with a convincing revolution. It is one of the great prison-breaks in the movies, made all the more jaw-dropping when the closing scroll reminds us that it is all true. In contract, Inglorious Basterds (a great film) had to create a fantasy ending that was as emotionally satisfying as the history featured in Sobibor. The scenes leading up to the escape depict the daily lives of both soldiers and prisoners within the camp, in both its banalities and horrors, and there are some truly gory and disturbing moments here, but they never feel unnecessary because of the way that lead actor/director Konstaintin Khabenskiy depicts these events through the eyes of the prisoners who, slowly but surely, refuse to be victims any longer. Khabenskiy makes for a dogged and convincing hero, but it is Christopher Lambert's depiction of Karl Frenzel, the Nazi administrator of the camp, that really elevates the film's tension-Lambert plays the part as a man barely holding onto his sanity, having internalized the suffering that he constantly orders and witnesses. It is the most chilling portrait of an unhinged Nazi official since Ralpph Fiennes in Schindler's List. Less successful is Khabenskiy's decision to suggest a romantic connection between Pechersky and a female prisoner that he knew before the war, mainly because I struggled to believe an opportunity for such a romance convincing in this setting; nevertheless, this relationship is well-acted and leads to one of the best character exchanges in the film. Sobibor is the Russian submission for the 91st Academy Award for best foreign language film. The film was shot in Lithuania, in six languages: Russian, Polish, German, Dutch, Yiddish, and English. This helps give the film the epic scope of a truly international production, and that is exactly what it feels like. This is one of the best films centered on the theme of the Holocaust that I have ever seen-well-acted, handsomely stages, filled with sobering imagery, and ultimately, a satisfying resolution that makes an often difficult journey worth taking. What begins as a tragedy ends as a victory; the film's success, and whether or not we accept the set-up of the first two acts, hinges on the execution of the escape. Khabenskiy absolutely delivers. I would be very happy to see this film appear on the list of nominees.

Almost unwatchable

[davegrout · 3/10 · 30 January 2019]

The worst film about the Holocaust I've seen. Watched half of it on TV but switched it off. A shame because the subject matter is so compelling: the true story of a concentration camp revolt organized by a Russian army. Unfortunately it has all the subtlety of a Michael Bay movie. There are moments of tension, but there is zero character development. The Nazis are portrayed as cackling sadists - less convincing even than the Nazis in the Indiana Jones movies. The reasons for this may include the heavy involvement of Russia's Ministry of Culture under revisionist Vladimir Medinsky. Unless you thrill to the trope of vicious, bullying baddies in extended torture scenes who are later gruesomely dispatched one by one, you will probably find this film a shallow, disjointed overblown mess.

Go watch it, don't read moronic reviews

[mfaermark · 10/10 · 16 October 2018]

It's a great film. Don't listen to the the dumb and dumber reviewers who call the film 'boring'. Yeah sure it's boring if you have an attention span of a disorientated bat and IQ of a garden gate. Go back to your PlayStation 4, films are not for you in this case as is review writEye roll.

Dark unhistoric sloppely researched Russian melodrama.

[cthelder · 1/10 · 12 July 2019]

The setting of the camp is incorrect. Sobibor was a temporary settlement built in the countryside, mostly built out of wood. This movie was shot on a permanent industrial location and has too many brick buildings. Parts looks like a fortress that's been there a long time.(were they going for an Auschwitz look?)

The 1987 movie about this subject was a lot more historical underbuilt. The story itself is dramatic enough, no need for melodrama. Watch the 1987 film if you're interested in the Sobibor Escape.

This movie felt like I was watching a schoolplay improvisation that used the backstory of Sobibor. No character developement whatsoever.

The Christopher Lambert character was a joke like most of the other nazi's. Caricatures. The drunken guards having sadistic fun with the prisoners in Sobibor is more artistic freedom I take issue with. The camp was run very disciplined, like clockwork.

The purpose of the camp was extermination. They needed the inmates to do the dirty work and left them alone as long as the work was being done. I get it, the Nazis were bad. No need to turn it into an orgie of sadistic violence.

If you take this much artistic freedom with the historic source material why not make a fantasy movie? That way you can do whatever you want without people getting disturbed by the inacuracies.

Exploitation movie and a waste of effort.

Intens movie. Just learn to read subtitles

[paulstolk · 10/10 · 21 May 2019]

A film that shows some of the gruesome ways the nazis organised the Holocaust. The different languages spoken (not always perfect I admit but I don't think it's annoying) show that the war was international and affected many countries in Europe. The prisoners at Sobibor were from all over Europe.

Dubbing made this film almost bearable

[gerbenrebel · 4/10 · 25 September 2018]

In my country they've dubbed al the nazis with uneven german and dutch accents which made this mess of a film quite campy. As boring as the movie itself was, every word a german uttered was met with laughter during my screening because it sounded so foolish and stereotypical. I recommend seeing the movie Escape from Sobibor which is way better.

Amazing true story

[liliannah-80022 · 10/10 · 21 February 2020]

Wonderful movie. True story - true heroes. I was crying during the movie, it's very emotional

The most appalling and revolting dramatisation of the Holocaust I have ever witnessed

[courtneybaker-07047 · 1/10 · 31 October 2018]

Anyone who gives a positive appraisal of this film clearly does not understand the Holocaust or simply does not care about the dramatisation of death and suffering for entertainment. I cannot articulate my horror and disgust at this film's revolting portrayal of Sobibor - an Operation Reinhard extermination camp where 200,000-500,000 people were murdered. It uses and abuses the mass murder of thousands of people to form a Hollywood-style dramatisation akin to a slasher film that is so utterly disrespectful to the lived experiences of the victims that it would be laughable if it was not so appalling. I left after approximately 15 minutes of this film. The first few minutes, however, were enough for anyone with any real knowledge or appreciation of the horrors of the death-camps to feel sick. I understand that some people positively reviewed this film because they believe that it attempts to convey the horrors of the death camps. I can only imagine that this is due largely to ignorance and/or to a desensitisation to atrocity as it so often portrayed in film and the media. The film begins with the arrival of Jews to Sobibor. They arrive with great smiles on their faces,apparently arriving with first class tickets from the ghettoes and transit camps. In reality, most deportees to the deathcamps travelled for several days standing, with no food, water or facillities from ghettoes and transit camps where they spent months living in hell if they did not die from disease, murder, or starvation. In Yitzhak Arad's book Belzec, Soibor, Treblinka he includes the testimony of survivor Ada Lichtmann who described the journey to Sobibor: "We were packed into a closed cattle train. Inside the freight cars it was so dense that it was impossible to move... Soldiers entered the car and robbed us and even cut off fingers with rings." Yet, those getting off the trains in the film are seen whistling and smiling which only enforces pejorative depictions of Holocaust victims as "sheep who went to the slaughter" rather than as viciously brutalised and dehumanized people who largely had no meaningful way to prevent their deaths. Whilst there are some historical accuracies in this film, they are vague attempts to legitimise the films overwhelmingly vacuous portrayal of mass murder. Examples of attempts at historical accuracy include the processing of luggage (those that arrived at Sobibor were told they could collect their belongings after processing and were even given tokens) and the brief shot of the geese whose purpose in Sobibor supposedly was to drown out the sound of screaming in the gas chambers with their loud squawking. The depiction of the murder of women in the gas chambers was the most horrific and repulsive fictionalisation. The women are depicted as calmly walking to the "showers" before gas is poured on to them. They begin to choke and cry. One woman vomits whilst gazing pointedly at a SS officer peering through a big glass window. In reality, people were viciously beaten, whipped and crammed into the chambers where they suffocated to death. Those who were tasked with removing the bodies afterwards described how they found the victims piled on top of each other as they desperately climbed atop one another to reach fresh air. This is no where to be seen in Khabensky's Sobibor. Indeed, any attempt to portray such horror is to use and abuse immense suffering under the guise of portraying atrocity. Yet this film particularly desecrates the memory of those brutally murdered. This film is a spineless attempt to utilise unfathomable horror and suffering for entertainment - and profit. I left soon after witnessing gruesome scenes of prisoners being shot as punishment for failed escape attempts. I did not witness what I read in reviews about brutal portrayals of rape and murder but I do not need to. If you genuinely want to understand Sobibor, or any of the deathcamps, extermination camps, ghettoes or mass killing and abuses that took place during the Holocaust let me save you the trouble - you cannot understand, not truly. And no vacuous, gruesome fictionalisation can convey that horror and unfathomable suffering to you. Instead, listen to survivors: read their memoirs, listen to their testimonies and remember the victims - respectfully. Do not turn their suffering and their murder into titillating, exciting entertainment. Do not watch Sobibor.

Truly upsetting but brilliant movie

[tommytomato-15522 · 10/10 · 7 August 2019]

A very intense film but very well made, definitely worth watching

Uninspired and incredibly boring

[SimonDeKater · 2/10 · 25 September 2018]

Let's start it off with some good things: Konstantin Khabenskiy was great, like finding a pearl in a pile of horseshit. If only he directed as well as he acted. When I asked my girlfriend to name a single aspect of the movie that she considered "acceptable" apart from him she was silent for 10 seconds before saying "The lighting was alright".

Now that we got that out of the way: apart from Khabenskiy the acting was absolutely horrendous. This wasn't helped at all by the fact that everyone was dubbed over for some reason in an extremely obvious and unsynchronised manner, which evoked frequent laughter in the movie theater. Some scenes were stretched out painfully long like I've never seen before. For a movie that has such emotionally strong source material and such direct graphic and raw material it was incredibly incredibly boring. I was just bored out of my mind the entire film. People were leaving the movie theater all movie long. Even people that amazingly held on for 1 hour and 30 minutes or more realized that they wouldn't get their lost time back by suffering another minute more and left before the ending. The uninspired writing and dialogue was just insufferable and combined with the acting made it impossible to get into the movie at all. Throw in a lack of character depth, development or any proper introduction or storyline and you simply only care about the raw suffering of the holocaust you're witnessing, but not about any of the actual characters or the story they're trying to convey. This story, by the way, was spread out wafer thin in the movie despite it being intriguing in real life and it was mostly padded with long dragged out scenes of intense suffering of irrelevant characters that you do not care about with no other purpose than to show the actual suffering itself. Oh, did I mention the uninspired and again plain boring soundtrack that sounds like they took the exact same orchestra from the Band of Brothers soundtrack and asked it to play completely random notes very slowly? Surely some piano tunes and slow dragging strings must automatically mean beautiful and emotional music right? If there's anything this movie did right it was giving you the feeling as if you were being held captive and tortured yourself. Really captivating in that sense.

Intense!

[bradschulties · 9/10 · 24 September 2019]

One of the most intense movies I've seen! Well worth the time.