Movie reviews

THE FOURTH PHASE

Recommended. Stunning cinematography and a fantastic score by Kishi Bashi accompany a story of endurance driven by love of all the four phases of water. There's just one joke: "Hey, mum! I did it. No, she's not pregnant. I'm talking about snowboarding." Yet, the whole thing is entirely entertaining and makes you feel the power of following your own path. A must see. Numerous scenes during and after the first credits.

LASSEMAJAS DETEKTIVBYRA - STELLA NOSTRA (THE WHODUNIT DETECTIVE AGENCY)

Watchable. The film's silly and lacks humour but the acting, dubbing and costumes are perfect for a children's movie. Lets you unwind.




FIVE FLAVOURS FILM FESTIVAL

경성학교: 사라진 소녀들 (THE SILENCED)

Recommended. Unpredictable for a larger part and mysterious. The best part is you never know which way it's going to turn as the very genre is not clear till the end.


SULLY

Recommended. A film about the emergency landing on the Hudson river requires tension to be gradually and precisely built up. This film meets the condition. It's also remarkable that all the rescue took just 24 minutes and everyone survived. New York response workers are really something. Tom Hanks' performance is touching. When you get to the scene about Christmas cards during the credits, that's it, that's the final.

POWIDOKI (AFTERIMAGE)

Recommended. Four bleak years of stalinism. A free-thinking artist is dismissed for political reasons, thrown out of the artists' association and left without any sustenance. Makes you wonder if all non-religious and non-national art is going to get banned in the current situation in Poland. You'll find some comfort in it being "just a wind of history which always passes". Very well acted and scripted, pulling you in deeper and deeper. Tragic and moving.

KOLEKCJA SUKIENEK

Watchable. 8 popular actresses and 1 actor tell life stories. Lots of natural-looking close-ups give the impression of having conversations with them and the stories are very life-like so it feels cosy to follow them. You just feel like one of them. Everyone has some unfulfilled dreams and disappointments with partners or regrets about having children. The man in the ending feels like from a different tale. The film should have ended with the conversation about death.

BAD SANTA 2

Watchable. Gross and hardly funny but at least with a cohesive storyline. The female security guard has a fabulous Christmas lipstick.


WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

A PICKLE RECIPE

Watchable. A feel-good family movie and satire on Americans trying to cash on everything. The comedy bits could be funnier though.


LUX FILM DAYS

A PEINE J'OUVRE LES YEUX (AS I OPEN MY EYES)

Watchable. "Mustang" it isn't - it's too political and too Tunesian. The music's not too bad but the story's not fully transparent for people outside the portrayed country. Also the bit about the singer's boyfriend is too frustrating in its chauvinism. It's like he's doing whatever he likes and she gets the blame.


LION

Recommended. A tear-jerker from the 18th minute but so beautiful and touching to the core it's a must-see. Wonderfully acted and shot. Arresting scenery of Tasmania's Wellington Park plays a significant role too. A great movie to be released before Christmas. Makes you want to reunite with all your relatives.

According to the writer Luke Davies, the first 40 minutes were modelled on "WALL-E". Dev appears only in the 55th minute, the 2nd act of the film.

FALE

Watchable. The family, relationship, school and planning for the future issues of two hair-dressing trainees are easy to follow even if marred by poor music. Sadly it ends nowhere. An interesting scene is training shaving on a balloon - if you cut the surface, it bursts. I hope the real training looks just like that!

KEKSZAKALLU

Watchable. It was killing me with boredom till the ending where one of the girls drops her upper-middle-class life to leave for Brazil though lacking any knowledge of geography. Only then did I get the meaning of the film. What makes you change your life doesn't have to be any misfortune. Boredom is a sufficient trigger. What enlivens the 72 minutes of the film are scenes depicting Argentinian lifestyle, my favourite being cooking an octopus - the first time for me to see that. The eponymous Blue Beard is just the symbol of the unknown, no violence here.

If you're going to be around Wroclaw on 9th or 11th December, you can land a 6 zl ticket to see Pierce Brosnan or Wim Wenders at Kino Nowe Horyzonty. While in Warsaw, a big night will be the 15th December when the two new screens at Muranow will be officially opened.