Synopsis
The historical drama set during the Second World War centres on three people whose paths cross: a Russian aristocratic emigrant and member of the French resistance, a French collaborator and a high-ranking German SS officer.
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Cast
- Yuliya VysotskayaOlga
- Philippe DuquesneZhyul
- Viktor SukhorukovGenrikh Gimmler
- Vera VoronkovaRoza, block in barrack
- Jakob DiehlFogel
- Christian ClaussKhelmut
- Peter KurthKrauze
- Natalya Kurdyubovanew block in the barracks
- Irina DemidkinaFrench prisoner
- Pierre Nisse
Recommendations
- 75
Slant Magazine
Andrei Konchalovsky's film is more than an exercise, as pitiless moments accumulate with enraged relentlessness. - 70
Variety
The film’s tone and outlook is changeable throughout — down to a striking, only semi-successful framing device of docu-style testimonies that hover deliberately between worlds. - 60
CineVue
There's a lot that's wonderful about Andrei Konchalovsky's Holocaust drama Paradise and yet there's something fundamentally wrong with the film. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Strong performances and outstanding cinematography aren't enough to rescue an unfocused and episodic screenplay, which will leave many stranded in a purgatorial cinematic-halfway house between bliss and despair. - 50
The New York Times
Paradise is a strikingly shot Holocaust drama that ultimately seems confused about whose story it’s telling or to what end. - 40
Screen Daily
The Holocaust has undergone some awkward treatments on screen before, but one of the most ungainly recent examples must be Andrei Konchalovsky’s Paradise, a well-intentioned but very soft-edged mess of romance, metaphysics and historical theorising. - 40
Los Angeles Times
Paradise and its predictable waltz of suffering, choked consciousness and monstrosity adds little to the problematic subset of camp-themed World War II movies, which feel like nostalgia for hell.
