Joanna

An Akson Studio, Narodowe Centrum Kultury and Polish Film Institute production. Produced by Michal Kwiecinski. Executive producer, Katarzyna Fukacz-Cebula. Directed, written by Feliks Falk.With: Urszula Grabowska, Sara Knothe, Joachim Paul Assbock, Stanislawa Celinska, Monika Kwiatkowska, Halina Labonarska, Iza Kung, Kinga Preis. (Polish, French, German dialogue)In "Joanna," the titular heroine endures constant stress by illegally harboring a Jewish child during the German occupation, perhaps appropriate for the lastest film from Polish helmer Feliks Falk, whose work in the 1970s is most closely associated with the nation's Cinema of Moral Anxiety movement. This earnest, well-acted drama reps a respectable wade into a bleak historical chapter, but can't quite avoid a sense of familiar terrain trod more memorably. Pic's emphasis on closeups and one interior locale will work best in broadcast settings. Joanna (Urszula Grabowska) is an educated Warsaw resident reduced to menial work by the wartime economy, while a housing shortage brings pressure on her to take additional tenants into the spacious apartment she once shared with a husband, missing since he was conscripted two years earlier. One day during her waitress shift at a cafe, her customers include a nervous young woman (Halina Labonarska) who's ventured out against her better judgement as a birthday treat for 7-year-old Roza (Sara Knothe). Their worst fears materialize when the establishment is raided by authorities hunting for Jews. Mother and daughter are separated, the former arrested while the child hides in a church across the street. She's later found there by childless Joanna, who impulsively takes the girl home for safekeeping and makes covert efforts to trace the parent's whereabouts. Child and protector quickly bond. Already well accustomed to making herself scarce, Roza knows how to stay quiet and out of neighbors' sight. But the risk remains great for both of them, heightened by Joanna's nosy landlady, the possibility of being forced to find a co-tenant, and possible military inspection -- the last of which indeed comes to pass, leaving Joanna to somehow deflect the romantic advances of a Nazi officer (Joachim Paul Assbock). A few too many crises pile up, making the pic increasingly feel like a melodramatic showcase for star histrionics. (Grabowska duly won actress nods at the Moscow Fest and Polish Film Awards.) Some of Roza's dialogue is a little too precocious, despite Knothe's solid perf. Still, Falk confidently imbues the pic with the solemn weight necessary for the story to achieve at least some of its desired tragic power. Color palette is muted, score sometimes a tad overbearing. The first San Francisco Jewish Fest screening was on projected HD, due to a shipping delay in the 35mm print.Camera (color), Piotr Sliskowski; editor, Krzysztof Szpetmanski; music, Bartek Gliniak; production designer, Anna Wunderlich; costume designer, Magdalena Biedrzycka; sound (Dolby Digital), Maria Chilarecka; casting, Ewa Brodzka. Reviewed at San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, July 27, 2011. (Also in Moscow Film Festival.) Running time: 108 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com