Watch a trailer for Václav Marhoul's controversial World War II drama, The Painted Bird

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Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgard, Udo Kier, and Barry Pepper round out the cast of controversial Czech Republic drama The Painted Bird, an adaptation of Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel that, per reports, saw audience members at the Toronto International Film Festival bailing due to its depictions of graphic violence.
The reviews are nevertheless strong for Václav Marhoul’s film, which follows a child as he travels across Eastern Europe as World War II draws to a close. It was Czech Republic’s official Oscar submission for Best International Feature Film, but failed to score a nomination, likely due to the voting committee preferring JoJo Rabbit’s approach to the atrocities of war.