Movie reviews

CICHA NOC (SILENT NIGHT)

Walked out. The acclaimed portrayal of rural Poland is a depiction of drunks, potheads, smokers, vulgar teenagers, liars and family fights. I was happy to leave the cinema and get back to the more friendly reality. Besides it was so plain and boring I decided if I were to fall asleep at the cinema I'd be better off going home instead.

LABIRYNT SWIADOMOSCI

Recommended. Mystical riddles better than in "Da Vinci Code". Should be shown at multiplexes and not at limited screenings at indie venues. Technically perfect, with top-notch music. Impeccably acted in main roles and episodes alike. The director, Konrad Niewolski, is a pothead who believes in all this so the plot rings true within the movie even for sceptics like me. Most importantly kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning till the end.

JUPITER HOLDJA (JUPITER'S MOON)

Recommended. Built around the current influx of Syrian refugees - planet Jupiter has four moons, one of which is called Europa - but played out like nothing before. Hungary looks like a war zone. A refugee after being shot develops a superpower. At the same time he doesn't act like a superhero. He's portrayed more like an angel, with the way he moves and some people react to him, but without any particular moral qualities. "What is he?" is the question you keep asking yourself.

I'm adding a comment about a year later when I had a chance to ask the director, Kornél Mundruczó, about the film. The story behind the movie harks back to the time when the director, at the age of 13, read a science fiction book about a flying man. First the storyline was meant as a utopia but the refugee crisis occurred and history caught up with them, future became the present. So the scriptwriters: Kornél Mundruczó and Kata Wéber asked themselves: "shall we make the film at all?" They did and they showed the chaos and uncertainty Hungarians felt at the time through camera moves. As for the angel part, the director is of the opinion that it's hard to live without faith, whether the Church represents faith is a different thing. As for his view on refugees, he believes that a man who needs help needs that, not a kick. By such treatment we don't demean them but ourselves. Politicians dehumanize them. Dorota Chrobak asked him about cruelty common to Hungarian cinema. The director explained that the conflict of poetry and reality came from Hungarian tradition. It's present in folk tales and in Bartók's works. Unlike French or Romanian cinema, which is built on realism, mixing reality with poetry is typical for Hungarians. Scriptwriter Kata Wéber added that black humour was common in Hungarian society and that could be seen as brutality.

حادث النيل هيلتون (THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT)

Watchable. Less than 2 hours but drags like 3. European viewers care about solving the crime more than anyone in the Egyptian movie. You can almost smell the stench of Cairo: sprawling, all built-up, most edifices dilapidated, virtually everyone chain-smokes. Paying extra-marital affairs are rife among the rich and powerful. A topless scene astonished me - I didn't expect this in an Arabic film. The whole city's corrupted. Only deals are made, justice is impossible. Money changes hands constantly. The ending implies Mubarak's responsibility as Tahrir Square rebels beat up the police officer but you get the feeling nothing ever changes in this country.

THE MAN WITH THE IRON HEART

Watchable. The selection of classical music, mostly Czech and a bit of Straus, deprives the film of all emotions. What could be an involving assassination plot here just drags. The Nazi gives his wife a cold shoulder - the naked bum of Rosamund Pike doesn't enliven things - and commands Einsatzgruppen in cold blood. Whatever he does appears passionless instead of feeling callous. Jack O'Connell lacks both the talent and the looks. Beautiful, even if slightly aged, and acting more distinctly Rosamund Pike saves the story. The ending with Czech insurgents is protracted and as dull as the rest of the film.

The last one seen courtesy of Cinema City.