I had many conversations with people who actually lived through this, WWII occupied Poland. Underground, forest military units, jobs to be done, real fights. Traitors and suspected traitors. Actions by the Nazis, and counteractions by the Underground. What HAD to be done. What those jobs, that living, those times did to people who, by an odd chance, came out still alive out of the war.
The film "Oblawa" ("Manhunt") shows this pretty much as I was told it was. The director dedicated his film to his father, soldier of the Underground Home Army. Probably the best tribute possible, the truth.
The film has enough of the plot to keep the viewer interested, so if only a plot/action is important to you, the film does OK. Do not expect fabulous swashbuckling, "them Nazis felling like flies". That is not how it was, the Nazis kept pretty much all of Europe firmly occupied for 5+ years, they were good at this, the movie shows a bit "how they managed to". Good craftsmen in that, the Nazis.
The film is not especially about "Polish martyrdom". You get occupied, you die often, the usual, no big deal (according to the movie).
The film is about what it meant, to live then, to fight. The horrible truth, that to survive, to fight succesfully, to protect what could be protected, you had to kill the human inside you, at least a part of it. That truth is not spoon-fed to the viewer, you just soak it in.
The movie main character, middle aged corporal Otter (nom de guerre - you are not supposed to use your real name in the Underground) is the core non-comm in the forest military unit of the Home Army. Other soldiers look up to him, for his military competence, steady nerve, fatherly support to younger unit members. There are multiple hints (readable to Polish viewers) that he went through Special Forces training in the UK and got parachuted back (a common thing back then). The film shows his competence in a very understated, anti-Rambo way. When he is present, the mission is done, no undue fireworks, minimalistic.
We see corporal Otter manage increasingly hard problems, seemingly effortlesly. That is the plot for you. He even does it all while making the best moral decisions possible, he is not some monster. You could not do it better or cleaner. People around him succumb to hate or other, more abhoring weaknesses. Not him. He gently steers other's away from bad paths, like some non-nonsense sober angel.
Still, towards the end of the film a growing conviction matures in the viewer. Corporal Otter, as a human, is already emotionally dead. Some around him, with all their weaknesses and flashes of even true evil, are still human. Not so him, with all his competence, efficiency, skillful emotional support to others. The war had him already killed.
The generation of the Polish Underground ex-soldiers, who survived the war, was often exactly like this. It is hard to show in a Hollywood standard friendly way. Those people were quiet. The "Oblawa" film tells probably that story in an as viewable way as possible.
Polish viewers will appreciate additionally the accuracy of the scenography detail. Those details also tell and supplement parts of the main story. Clothing, weapons, everyday utensils. The whole film - screenplay, cinematography, acting, props are as faithful to the reality we know of that time as I had ever seen.
