Stylish but barely mediocre overall

An absolute waste of money

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Everything about this movie is bad. I rented it on DVD because I like WWII movies, and the poster suggested something like "Schindler's List" with a love angle ...But it just doesn't fly. The "Poet" is actually a young German soldier who spends most of the film moping and feeling sorry for himself. Herein consists, far as I can tell, his "poetic demeanor". We are also supposed to sympathize with his troubled conscience over his part in the war. But this is hard, as he is (wait for it!) a spy infiltrating the countryside to report on partisan movements and pave the way for the German invasion of first Poland, then Russia.When the Jewish couple escapes the massacre of their village, their midwife suggests they get a job on - of all places - a large German base ready for the invasion of Russia. While such employment is obviously treason on the part of Polish civilians and would be severely punished after the war, we are also asked to believe that German soldiers would knowingly accept Jewish non-prisoners as employees while the SS was killing all over the countryside.We are supposed to be awed by the female lead's love for her "poet", yet she prostitutes herself to German officers at the camp as if a matter of course. Which it would hardly have been for a Jewish village girl in 1941.The cutting is awful, and almost every scene is theatrically conceited and wholly unbelievable. There's really nothing to like about this movie - avoid at all costs.

I found this movie on DVD at Blockbuster under the above title. I was very disappointed. It was unrealistic and the plot full of holes. The German accents were almost annoying and even hard to understand. The only redeeming quality of this movie was Roy Scheider as the rabbi. At least he seemed believable. Whoever came up with the script should have watched a good Holocaust movie like Schindler's List first before subjecting the public to this mediocre stuff. Darryl Hannah talents were wasted in this film, plus she didn't seem old enough to have a grown (twenty-something) son. Forget about watching The Poet, aka Hearts of War!!!

Well this movie is one of those movies that exaggerate everything about the holocaust. I know me writing this would make some people angry but how they show Germans in this movie is just unacceptable. I see in this movie no real love story, just a political statement...Also the part of the German officers mother that pushes her son to go after the girl and put his life in danger is not realistic. The way the Jews react at certain situation, is also something thats not OK. Well it was for me hard to watch but I managed until the end I hope that this would be enough to save you some money... just maybe because of this I should give it more than one, but than again......no

I saw this movie at the Staten Island Film Festival. There were about 500 people in the audience. The filmmakers stayed after to answer questions which was cool.It is a compelling love story about a Jewish girl who falls in love with a German soldier in World War 2. The film also has plenty of action. Good battle scenes.Rachel and Oscar fall in love after he saves her life during a terrible snow storm. He saves her life again when Germans are attacking her Polish village and she and a Jewish boy are at gunpoint.Oscar sends the two off, instructing them to try to escape to Russia. Rachel travels to the Russian front line but is hunted by German soldiers at each and every turn. Oscar ultimately regrets his decision to send Rachel away and his mother, played by Daryl Hannah, convinces him to go find her. It culminates in an unpredictable and explosive ending.The film looks great. Roy Scheider, Colm Feore and Kim Coates round out a cast which includes good up and comers in Nina Dobrev, Jonathan Scarfe and Zachary Bennett. The leader of the Russian partisans, played by Lara Daans, is also a standout and arrives on the scene just when you think there's no more plot twists to be had.Overall, this is a very strong film that paces well, is beautifully shot, has interesting characters and should appeal to everybody.