A carefully crafted, poetically beautiful film, 'Fugitive Pieces' explores an oft-overlooked dimension of the Holocaust — survivor guilt.

Jacob (Robbie Kay), a young Polish Jew, is hidden by his mother as the Nazi's pounce on his home. Having witnessed his mother and father being shot and his beloved elder sister Bella (Nina Dobrev) being dragged away by the Gestapo, Jacob flees to the forest where he hides himself under a carpet of leaves.

Greek archaeologist Athos (Rade Sherbedgia) happens across the boy when he is close to death and, risking his own life, smuggles him across the border and back to his home on a Greek island. He keeps him safe throughout the war and, once the war is over, takes him with him when he immigrates to Canada.

Many years later, the adult Jacob (Stephen Dillance) cannot let go of the memory of his sister or the guilt at having escaped a similar fate. He cannot forget the atrocities and the burden of carrying the memory makes it impossible for him to partake fully in his own life. Having alienated his wife Alex (Rosamund Pike), he goes back to Greece in the hopes of finding some sort of closure.

Adapted from Anne Michaels' novel of the same name and directed by Jeremy Podeswa, 'Fugitive Pieces' will not appeal to everybody. Although the acting is exemplary and the cinematography sumptuous, the film demands patience and appreciation of subtle nuances.

Without these virtues, you are likely to become bored; but if you are willing to invest the time and concentration that the film deserves, it will reward you with its quiet secrets.