The Painted Bird

Released Jul 17, 2020

2h 49m

Drama

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81%

110 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

A young Jewish boy in Eastern Europe seeks refuge during World War II.

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Critics Consensus

Brutally uncompromising in its portrayal of Nazi Germany, The Painted Bird is a difficult watch that justifies its stark horror with searing impact.

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Audience Member

The film improves over the duration of the journey. The main actor is impressive.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/26/24

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Mary Ann F

At first I thought I'd never get through this, and as time went on, I wondered if I should I even bother. But about a third of the way through, something gripped me and didn't let go. It's actually a profound and moving film where it's not just scene after scene of horror, but rather a journey of one boy's grotesque suffering during world war II. There is definitely a narrative if you stick with it. And considering the direction of the world in 2023, we should always remind ourselves of the depravity that humans are capable of. Ten years ago, I might have naively thought these kinds of crimes would be behind us, but as our world slips into its Orwellian future, films like this are more important than ever. Those who turn away don't want to be reminded of what we can inflict upon one another, understandably so. Ultimately, the film ends on a hopeful note. Stick with it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/12/23

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Randy K

Its like defecating on a canvas and calling it art. Sadistic and brutal for the sake of nothing. Perhaps man is not redeemable, but neither is this movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/18/23

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Audience Member

A powerful must see Holocaust film. The child lead is absolutely outstanding. Though his character is just an innocent child caught up in genocide, he has the unstoppable will, wit and grit of the most heroic of adult soldiers.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

I read "The Painted Bird" 50 years ago and found the reading difficult but ehard to put down. The memories of the book haunted me for years. I later read reviews by critics who accused Kosinski of plagiarizing or inventing his material. Perhaps I had been duped into reading something I should not. One of the lines of critique engages in the notion that the book--and the movie--are depictions of Nazi Germany. Indeed, the critics say, the scenes did not take place in Germany. The Germans played a small role. It's therefore not a good movie about the Holocaust. But that's wrong. The greatest excesses of the Holocaust did in fact occur outside of Germany in Eastern Europe. Even German Jews, and for that matter Dutch and French Jews, were deported into Eastern Europe to be murdered. The story line of the Painted Bird is almost certainly apocryphal, a work of fiction, not a documentary. Like all fiction, it draws its material from human nature. The various depictions of ugliness provided in the book--and in the movie--might never have been witnessed by any one person, and a few might not have actually ever occurred, and only been invented in the imaginations of twisted people. But the fact remains the stories are there, the notions of depravity are there. And the fact remains that in Eastern Europe in the 1940s a massive amount of unspeakable, depraved cruelty happened. The movie almost perfectly captures Kozinski's story. One can argue whether the story itself should have been told, for the reasons I mentioned above. I believe that it is an important story, not as a document of historical detail, but as a document of human ignorance and cruelty. If we fail to understand that ignorance and cruelty were at the core of the depravity that enveloped Eastern Europe, we have missed not only what happened, but are inviting it to happen again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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andy h

I could barely get through the first half hour, it's too graphic and mean for my tastes

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Václav Marhoul

Director

Petr Kotlár

A Boy

Udo Kier

Miller

Lech Dyblik

Lekh

Jitka Cvancarová

Ludmila

Stellan Skarsgård

Hans

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The Painted Bird: Trailer 1

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Nick Schager

Esquire Magazine

Few films are this tough to sit through-or difficult to forget.

Jan 27, 2021

Full Review

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

For all its overworked grotesqueries, it attempts an intriguing climb from the deepest pits of horror towards some kind of stoic grace.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 22, 2020

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Deals in visual poetry that compels attention even as it wallows in unkindness.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 14, 2020

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

It reflects, with an atmospheric black and white, a study about evil without borders that lacerates child innocence at times of war, but in its almost three hours it gets lost in a routine of dull and banal episodes of suffering. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Nov 10, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s pitiless and unyielding conviction forces us to endure scene after scene of appalling cruelty, daring us to grow numb to it and therefore proving its bigger point.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 24, 2022

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Josh Parham

Next Best Picture

The totality of this piece is impressive but eventually suffocates under the weight of its own ambitious scope.

Rated: 6/10

Jun 5, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

A young Jewish boy in Eastern Europe seeks refuge during World War II.

Director: Václav Marhoul
Screenwriter: Václav Marhoul
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: PubRes, Silver Screen Partners II
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Czech
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 17, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 15, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.3K
Runtime: 2h 49m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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