During World War II, I watched a wonderful film about the negative effects of the war and most importantly, a film based on real life. The film was called My Name Is Sara, which was made in 2019. The film is about the experiences of a Jewish woman named Sara Goralnik Shapiro, who lived between 1930-2018, during World War II.
Sara, who has fled from Poland to Ukraine and who introduces herself as a Christian on the farm where she has taken refuge, has the sole aim of surviving until the end of the war.
I have always admired the life on the farm, the work on the farm and the joy of producing something, but not like Sara's life. It is an exploitation of one's labour power, regardless of one's faith, country or sect, when one is forced to work for the mere fear of life.
Every war has negative effects, but I think World War II holds the record in this regard. I have seen many films about the negative effects of World War 2 on the people who participated in the war and those who did not. Some of the films I have watched are in an effort to bring out heroes with the effect of being a party, but most of them reflect the negativities on human lives in terms of drama. Of course, films without taking sides are always better because we don't need heroes who will first turn lives upside down and then be revealed.
The Russian-made film Beanpole, which I watched in the middle of the summer, was magnificent. In the film about the aftermath of the war and its effects, it revealed the ugly face of the war with a neutral eye.
The film My Name Is Sara deals with the war with the same neutrality. I liked the stance of the American-made film. I don't think they had any difficulty in the story and scenario because it was adapted from real life. They reflect what can be experienced in a farm trapped between Russian and German soldiers in Ukraine in the most natural way. Although the conflict between beliefs is touched upon to some extent, I think that it does not grin because it is left in dose in the film.
I think that women are the most affected by the chaos that arises when the laws are suspended and everything is left to those who get away with it. It is a despicable behaviour to take advantage of her sexuality while taking advantage of her power in exchange for just feeding her and giving her a place to sleep, and it is also thought-provoking that such people are at the forefront of the questioning of faith.
While we have to see the ugly face of war throughout the film, it is sad to know that people know no boundaries in terms of ugliness. The film My Name Is Sara has an effect that pushes the viewer to think about many issues. Not becoming aggressive on some issues and scenes during the thinking must be related to the measure of patience.
I don't think there will be a difference between watching the film and not watching the film for those who choose to ignore an event and pretend it didn't happen. I recommend watching the film to anyone who wants to examine and try to know what happened instead of ignoring it.
Lastly, Zuzanna Surowy, who played the real-life Sara Goralnik Shapiro, was superb in her acting and her cool demeanour despite all that was going on.