Sobibor (film)


Sobibor is a 2018 Russian war drama film co-written, directed by and starring Konstantin Khabensky. The picture also stars Christopher Lambert and was released on 3 May 2018 in Russia. It was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot

The film is based on a real story that happened in 1943 in the Sobibor extermination camp in German-occupied Poland. The main character of the movie is the Jewish-Soviet soldier Alexander Pechersky, who at that time was serving in the Red Army as a lieutenant. In October 1943, he was captured by the Nazis and deported to the Sobibor death camp, where Jews were being exterminated in gas chambers. In just three weeks, Alexander was able to plan an international uprising of prisoners from Poland and Western Europe. This uprising resulted in being the only successful one throughout the war, which led to the largest escape of prisoners from a Nazi death camp.

Cast

Initially the project was titled "Legend of the Escape". In early reports, Andrey Malyukov was credited as director, but at a press conference in September 2017, it was revealed that Khabensky in fact directed the film.
Principal photography took place near Vilnius, Lithuania.

Release

has secured North American distribution rights. The U.S. release date is April 2, 2019.

Response

Box office

Sobibor grossed $0 in North America and 5.1 million in other territories, against a production budget of $2.4 million.

Inaccuracy

Pechersky was captured by the Germans in October 1941, not in 1943. Sobibor was the site of one of two successful uprisings by Jewish Sonderkommando prisoners during Operation Reinhard. The revolt at Treblinka extermination camp on 2 August 1943 resulted in up to 100 escapees.

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 6.78/10.