Kowasaki's Rose

The lines between loyalty and treachery are blurred in this story of family and politics from Academy Award nominee and veteran director Jan Hrebejk (Divided We Fall). 

Czech psychiatrist Pavel Josek is scheduled to receive the prestigious "Memory of the Nation" award for his work as a former dissident, but revelations about his past jeopardize everything he's worked toward.  This information forces both the characters, and the audience, into a past everyone would much rather forget. 

With a documentary crew following Josek's every move, Hrebejk deftly maneuvers through the narrative,  keeping the well-traversed communist spy story genre engaging and new. Kawasaki's Rose handles the still-painful wounds of World War II with poignancy and honesty, and may provide the start to a lengthy healing process.

Print Source: Menemsha Films, Neil A. Friedman, neilf@menemshafilms.com