Tom Dooley This is a TV movie (CBS) on the true life of Irena Sendler, who served as a nurse in Warsaw during World War II. She could see what was happening all around her and decided to do something about it. So she started getting Jewish children out and into Polish homes. This led her to being involved in the Polish underground. It was originally called 'The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler' and did not have a misrepresentative 'war' action cover either, as it does in the UK release – which is shameful in its money grubbing attempt to mislead the public.The film is told in linear style and traces her efforts right the way through the life of the ghetto. It is reasonably well made with some good period detail but it is also nakedly sentimental almost from the start. That is forgivable bearing in mind the subject matter.It does balance things up as it develops and we get some nasty Nazi's but this is not an action packed war movie it is a character driven story. It is really about the people who cared and risked their lives to save others. The acting is all adequate but some of the children really ought to think of an alternative career option (yes I know they are young – but so was Shirley Temple) and everyone speaks in English as this was made for US TV. It was filmed in Riga too so some very nice settings and in the end it is a brilliant way to remember another brave and kind woman who put others before herself.

andrejs-visockis I watched this film last night at its Latvian premiere. It was a relatively big event owing to the fact that it was the first ever Hollywood production shot entirely on location in Riga. The film's theme is without any doubt an important one and the real life Irena Sendler definitely deserves to have a film made about her life. I'm just not sure that this was the film It is, of course, one thing that they shot the film in Riga, Latvia and not in Poland. Before the screening, one of the producers claimed that it was no longer possible to make a film about the Warsaw ghetto in Warsaw since everything had been destroyed during the war. That may be true, still others have managed. I understand that this film has been made for the American audiences who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Madrid and Reykjavik but let's be honest, it didn't actually feel very Warsawy. Riga went through similar events during WWII, so the events depicted in this film didn't feel inaccurate against the actual background of the city of Riga but it just wasn't Poland.However, that wasn't the biggest problem. Mediocre and unconvincing acting aside, everyone not only spoke broken English (plus they had public signs in English!!!) but they also spoke the way Americans do in Hollywood productions - I love you, son - I love, daddy. Excuse me but no one actually speaks with each other like this in real life in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else really for that matter. And what was it all about with this sudden outburst of cautious randiness in the closet? Yes, of course, we need a bit of fully clothed and well-tempered romance to make the Hollywood mission complete.In many ways, this film tried to be Schindler's List. They even put some real life footage of Irena Sendler at the end of the film, just like they did it in Spielberg's film. But both these films, while touching upon very serious and important matters, flop entirely in terms of authenticity and believability. In other words, cheap Hollywoodisation of European history.

tavm Months after my dad taped this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on DVD disc, I finally got to watch The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler with an aunt of mine today. This based on a true story account taking place during World War II of a young Polish woman's saving of thousands of Jewish children from the Gestapo is one of the most touching of such films I've yet seen. Anna Paquin brings warmth and compelling gravity to the title role and I'm not ashamed to admit that when Irena was being tortured by the Nazis, I nearly cried. In fact, I wish she had also gotten an Emmy nomination and not just Marcia Gay Harden as her mother, Janina Sendler, compelling as she was also. Also compelling were a couple of the children showcased: Sergei Novik-Marchenko as Jasio and Elea Hofland as Anna. And while Goran Visnjic as Stefan didn't have much time in his role, he still made a little impression in how his character loved Irena so when it was revealed in the end text that the two were eventually married, I was touched to know that he was indeed real! And then finding out Ms. Sendler was nominated for a Nobel prize while her real-life visual was shown made me so glad this movie was made after getting recognition when she eventually got found out by some high school students before her death in 2008. So if you go to a nearby Hallmark store and find a VHS or DVD of this movie, I highly recommend you watch The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler.

edwagreen A very fine holocaust film dealing with Irena Sendler's helping 2,500 Jewish children escape from the ghetto and face certain extermination.The film is quite a change for Anna Paquin, who shows she can act unlike her 1993 totally undeserved supporting Oscar win for "The Piano."This excellent film shall serve as an inspiration to us all. Unfortunately, we could not discover what happened to many of the children after the war. Unfortunately, their parents must have perished.This is a film of great virtue, moral courage, the embodiment of a total triumph of the human spirit under such adversity.Marcia Gay Harden, a terrific actress, has the role of the mother. Despite the fact that her part is generally understated, Harden displays that rare virtue of a parent caught up in what is right in such an era of horror.Highly recommended.