Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Piotr Szkopiak, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Michael Gambon, Talulah Riley.
This is an exceptional thriller based on the unsettling true events and cover-up of the 1940 Katyn massacre in Poland.
The backdrop is post-war England, where we find ambitious journalist Stephen Underwood (Pettyfer, Magic Mike, I am Number Four) coming across a disturbing series of suicides by re-settled Polish soldiers. He uncovers the horrific slaughter of 22,000 Polish officers during World War II, a secret that has been kept hidden for many years.
He approaches his editor Frank Hamilton (Gambon, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Fortitude) about the growing number of unexplained veteran suicides that are unsettling. He believes there’s a more disreputable plot.
Recognising there’s a story, his first port of call is Colonel Janusz Pietrowski (Will Thorp), a liaison officer for the re-settlement of Polish troops under British command. The meeting leaves Stephen feeling unsettled, and from here his investigation escalates as he finds himself embroiled in a dangerous, multi-layered conspiracy concerning the execution of the military and civilians by Stalin’s secret police.
It’s 1947, the war is over and the search for truth is underway. Underwood uncovers an intrigue on an international scale. Clandestine scenarios, lies, murder, secrecy and so many more questions.
Then there’s Michael Loboda (Robert Wieckiewicz), an ill-tempered man with a secret believed to threaten his life. Underwood pitches that he can be a conduit for the truth, a trustworthy third party able to facilitate the means for his safety through a story worthy of international intrigue. However, unbeknownst to him other people are watching.
Writer/director Piotr Szkopiak’s grandfather was one of the innocents murdered and The Last Witness is his way of honoring their memory. He and co-writer Paul Szambowski have built their historical fiction as a means of exposing the horrific lengths all these different governments would have taken to keep the truth hidden.
What unsettling historical events form the basis of The Last Witness? Three lucky readers will win DVDs if the answers are correct. Entries should be sent to [email protected] by next Monday, 29 April 2019. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column next week.
