THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
Watchable. It's sick. The movie puts you inside the head of a deranged psychopath. Music varying between Wagner, Bach, but also "Fame" and "Hit the Road, Jack" emphasises the imbalance. A dull commentary guides you through the moments leading up to the murders. The film depicts the mutilated corpses and body parts graphically. The circles of hell ending suggests a deeper thought behind it but my gut feeling tells me the picture was shot purely for the shock factor. Ineptly in that since it drags due to the spoken narrative. But Matt Dillon is superb and it's a rare occasion to kind-of-experience what's it like to be a demented psychopath. The Polish translation is off with weapons vocab and changes Verge into Wer which deprives it of its meaning and connotations.
Update: My knowledgeable friend has seen the movie and noticed that true psychopaths aren't as emotional as Jack is. Nothing makes them nervous. So that's what the director got wrong.
TOUCH ME NOT
Watchable. Drags awfully. Often disturbing. The disabled people were so revolting I nearly walked out. But it shows and discusses various shapes of physicality and sexuality and reveals e.g. that some disabled people don't suffer and enjoy fulfilling sex lives.
Monday 26 November 2018
Sunday 25 November 2018
THUGS OF HINDOSTAN
Recommended. I've just come back from the cinema and I'm still laughing. I didn't recognize Aamir Khan acted as Firangi till the end credits. He looks totally different and acts better too. He's a kinda Jack Sparrow character (and a sailor as well), even the famous "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme gets a smooth makeover in the first dance scene. "You're either great or a scoundrel." "I'm the greatest scoundrel." - Firangi is such a rascal that "even hell's gates won't open for him". You're going to be deceited and it guarantees plenty of twists of action. Set in 1795 and later it's a period adventure comedy Bollywood style. Amitabh Bachchan as a national hero and Katrina Kaif as a... dancer. I'll be looking forward to a sequel.
Recommended. I've just come back from the cinema and I'm still laughing. I didn't recognize Aamir Khan acted as Firangi till the end credits. He looks totally different and acts better too. He's a kinda Jack Sparrow character (and a sailor as well), even the famous "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme gets a smooth makeover in the first dance scene. "You're either great or a scoundrel." "I'm the greatest scoundrel." - Firangi is such a rascal that "even hell's gates won't open for him". You're going to be deceited and it guarantees plenty of twists of action. Set in 1795 and later it's a period adventure comedy Bollywood style. Amitabh Bachchan as a national hero and Katrina Kaif as a... dancer. I'll be looking forward to a sequel.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDENWALD 3D
Watchable again. The 3D is so good it's dizzying at times. A number of new fantastic animals. Technically the movie's spotless. But the slow, convoluted story, with lots of sidetracking and no humour is overcomplicated and even more confusing when watched again. Eddie Redmayne is too gauche as Newt Scamander. The wizarding world has found enviable solutions for cleaning though. I could do with some.
Watchable again. The 3D is so good it's dizzying at times. A number of new fantastic animals. Technically the movie's spotless. But the slow, convoluted story, with lots of sidetracking and no humour is overcomplicated and even more confusing when watched again. Eddie Redmayne is too gauche as Newt Scamander. The wizarding world has found enviable solutions for cleaning though. I could do with some.
Saturday 24 November 2018
SPUTNIK RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL
КРОВЬ (BLOOD)
Recommended. Decent Russian-school cinema. Intimate, with sympathy to the protagonists. Engrossing. Clear-cut structure in spite of going to and fro in time. With good-looking main actors and a good number of twists and turns. It depticts two brothers: one with a goal and one who doesn't know what to do with his life yet both live empty lives. Memorable bits are when one blames his brother for smuggling the stuff he uses himself and when he remarks: "You ended up the way I was supposed to". With a beautiful song along with the end credits.
PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE (SORRY ANGEL)
Recommended. Sexy, not romantic but beautiful in the way the gay story isolates a relationship. It deals with love, disillusionment, hopes and camouflaged fear. The emotions are not quite explicit but after leaving the cinema you suddenly realise how many feelings were concealed inside both men. Magnificently acted, especially by Pierre Deladonchamps as Jacques. Music is not prominent but matching and the music piece titles reflect the developments in the story.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - MINIMARATHON OF FANTASTIC BEASTS
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM 2D
Watchable when seen again. Shot in Liverpool pretending New York. Fights prolonged. A very feminine legilimens. The niffler is both cute and funny. Giggle water advert appears in magical press. Not meant for the big screen - reading the newspaper headlines and ads is often impossible. Best to catch it all on DVD I guess. Great cinematography, full od depth even in 2D.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDENWALD 2D
Watchable. A set-up for a trilogy. As always the second part is the darkest and the grimmest. Evil comes from Austria this time so, taken the period it's set in and Grindenwald's pure race ideology, he's the magical world equivalent of Hitler. On the bright side the niffler is back, actually more than one. There's a new cute dog-like creature too. 3D-like cinematography. Enchanting music by James Newton Howard.
WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
THE DRIVER IS RED
Recommended. A thriller-like short animated documentary about capturing Nazi war criminals, especially Adolf Eichmann.
THE ACCOUNTANT OF AUSCHWITZ
Recommended. A gripping future-length documentary about the complexities and obstacles in sentencing Nazi criminals. With the huge prevalence of Nazism in the post-war population, including judges who were ideologically Nazi, justice required a time lapse more than anything else. Different attitudes from both sides are presented. Uncertain outcomes of subsequent cases amount to full tension.
THE ROLLING GROUND
Watchable. A short film where a girl walks a rolling ground listening to a recorded account of how her ancestor survived a few sorts of prison camps during WW2. No conclusion.
BUDAPEST NOIR
Watchable. The Jewish motif is unnecessary here. Otherwise it's a surprisingly good film noir. Not my fave genre per se but this movie is less dark, uses more colour in the visual layer and the story deals with prostitution, politics and a family tragedy. Shocking how men divide women into whores and decent ones and how deadly the consequential predjudice can be. Based on that predjudice their attitudes to crimes against them differ drastically.
KICHKA: LIFE IS A CARTOON
Recommended. Life is unlike movies. Some secrets never come to light. So the Shoah survivor never learnt of his likely family in Israel. During the 3 years he spent with his father in concentration camps he never asked because his dad was so debilitated. But forming a huge family helped him survive the loss of 30 of his so, unlike others - who committed suicides after leaving camps, he filled his loneliness with people and comic cartoons. Later a son of his became a recognized cartoonist himself. While humour replaced the talk of the Holocaust, the son, step by step, discovers what the survivor father wasn't able to say.
DAS LETZTE MAHL (THE LAST SUPPER)
Watchable. Over-talked but valuable since it's the first movie presenting Jews in Germany of the 1930s as German citizens with full rights, not outsiders. From the makers' research such were the sentiments that even some Jews served in Wehrmacht till the end of the war. The film doesn't stretch that far. It's just one day of a fictitious family with episodes based on real life people e.g. the Jewish inventor of TV which the Aryans stole to use for their propaganda. Sentimental music deprives the movie of tension.
ASSASSINATION NATION
Watchable. Funny how a sexist guy of 33 tried to make it feminist. When teenage girls talk about sex all the time, you know it must have been scripted and directed by a man. Girl talk about the size of "his dick in the grey tracksuit" is plain ridiculous. Female teenagers aren't like that. It's how nasty adult guys (Sam Levinson in this case) sexualize them. The rest of the film attempts greatness. American flags and their colours in clothing abound. In the slasher form the picture points the finger of blame at prudish hypocrites demanding of teenagers standards they don't comply with themselves. It shows how kids are surrounded with sex, violence and a total lack of privacy and also how everyone, minor or adult, has got something to hide. Nobody's innocent, some are just less guilty.
CREED II
Walked out. Protracted cliches like male talk at work and an expectant mother at home. No tension. Silly conversations include her asking if he's defecated before the fight. And, after cancer in part one, in part two the baby may be born deaf - another cheap medical trick in the script.
MILOSC JEST WSZYSTKIM (LOVE IS EVERYTHING)
Watchable. A slow and tear-jerking 'romantic comedy', much in Polish style. I laughed just three times: when the Santa jumped into water to the amazement of the filming crew, when the undertaker burst into tears and at "Jestem Ewa Szajnocha, lat 22, eee... 35." ("I'm Ewa Szajnocha, age 22, argh... 35."). It's a remake of obscure Belgian "Alles is liefde" ("Love is All") from 2007. I haven't seen the original. In the Polish version the love stories are far-fetched and unnatural: either a 40+ woman ditches her 18-year-old lover to return to her aged ex-husband or a quarrelsome, grunting when laughing, shop assistant attracts a celebrity footballer. The hobo hangs a sock to get a present western-style. It's not a Polish tradition. A number of romantic songs in Polish and English.
SOFIA
Recommended. Moving in the beginning, adding suspense shortly and gripping till the very end. And it's... about having a baby and getting married. In Morocco where the situation is a complex case encompassing penal law, business, honour - everything but love.
КРОВЬ (BLOOD)
Recommended. Decent Russian-school cinema. Intimate, with sympathy to the protagonists. Engrossing. Clear-cut structure in spite of going to and fro in time. With good-looking main actors and a good number of twists and turns. It depticts two brothers: one with a goal and one who doesn't know what to do with his life yet both live empty lives. Memorable bits are when one blames his brother for smuggling the stuff he uses himself and when he remarks: "You ended up the way I was supposed to". With a beautiful song along with the end credits.
PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE (SORRY ANGEL)
Recommended. Sexy, not romantic but beautiful in the way the gay story isolates a relationship. It deals with love, disillusionment, hopes and camouflaged fear. The emotions are not quite explicit but after leaving the cinema you suddenly realise how many feelings were concealed inside both men. Magnificently acted, especially by Pierre Deladonchamps as Jacques. Music is not prominent but matching and the music piece titles reflect the developments in the story.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - MINIMARATHON OF FANTASTIC BEASTS
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM 2D
Watchable when seen again. Shot in Liverpool pretending New York. Fights prolonged. A very feminine legilimens. The niffler is both cute and funny. Giggle water advert appears in magical press. Not meant for the big screen - reading the newspaper headlines and ads is often impossible. Best to catch it all on DVD I guess. Great cinematography, full od depth even in 2D.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDENWALD 2D
Watchable. A set-up for a trilogy. As always the second part is the darkest and the grimmest. Evil comes from Austria this time so, taken the period it's set in and Grindenwald's pure race ideology, he's the magical world equivalent of Hitler. On the bright side the niffler is back, actually more than one. There's a new cute dog-like creature too. 3D-like cinematography. Enchanting music by James Newton Howard.
WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
THE DRIVER IS RED
Recommended. A thriller-like short animated documentary about capturing Nazi war criminals, especially Adolf Eichmann.
THE ACCOUNTANT OF AUSCHWITZ
Recommended. A gripping future-length documentary about the complexities and obstacles in sentencing Nazi criminals. With the huge prevalence of Nazism in the post-war population, including judges who were ideologically Nazi, justice required a time lapse more than anything else. Different attitudes from both sides are presented. Uncertain outcomes of subsequent cases amount to full tension.
THE ROLLING GROUND
Watchable. A short film where a girl walks a rolling ground listening to a recorded account of how her ancestor survived a few sorts of prison camps during WW2. No conclusion.
BUDAPEST NOIR
Watchable. The Jewish motif is unnecessary here. Otherwise it's a surprisingly good film noir. Not my fave genre per se but this movie is less dark, uses more colour in the visual layer and the story deals with prostitution, politics and a family tragedy. Shocking how men divide women into whores and decent ones and how deadly the consequential predjudice can be. Based on that predjudice their attitudes to crimes against them differ drastically.
KICHKA: LIFE IS A CARTOON
Recommended. Life is unlike movies. Some secrets never come to light. So the Shoah survivor never learnt of his likely family in Israel. During the 3 years he spent with his father in concentration camps he never asked because his dad was so debilitated. But forming a huge family helped him survive the loss of 30 of his so, unlike others - who committed suicides after leaving camps, he filled his loneliness with people and comic cartoons. Later a son of his became a recognized cartoonist himself. While humour replaced the talk of the Holocaust, the son, step by step, discovers what the survivor father wasn't able to say.
DAS LETZTE MAHL (THE LAST SUPPER)
Watchable. Over-talked but valuable since it's the first movie presenting Jews in Germany of the 1930s as German citizens with full rights, not outsiders. From the makers' research such were the sentiments that even some Jews served in Wehrmacht till the end of the war. The film doesn't stretch that far. It's just one day of a fictitious family with episodes based on real life people e.g. the Jewish inventor of TV which the Aryans stole to use for their propaganda. Sentimental music deprives the movie of tension.
ASSASSINATION NATION
Watchable. Funny how a sexist guy of 33 tried to make it feminist. When teenage girls talk about sex all the time, you know it must have been scripted and directed by a man. Girl talk about the size of "his dick in the grey tracksuit" is plain ridiculous. Female teenagers aren't like that. It's how nasty adult guys (Sam Levinson in this case) sexualize them. The rest of the film attempts greatness. American flags and their colours in clothing abound. In the slasher form the picture points the finger of blame at prudish hypocrites demanding of teenagers standards they don't comply with themselves. It shows how kids are surrounded with sex, violence and a total lack of privacy and also how everyone, minor or adult, has got something to hide. Nobody's innocent, some are just less guilty.
CREED II
Walked out. Protracted cliches like male talk at work and an expectant mother at home. No tension. Silly conversations include her asking if he's defecated before the fight. And, after cancer in part one, in part two the baby may be born deaf - another cheap medical trick in the script.
MILOSC JEST WSZYSTKIM (LOVE IS EVERYTHING)
Watchable. A slow and tear-jerking 'romantic comedy', much in Polish style. I laughed just three times: when the Santa jumped into water to the amazement of the filming crew, when the undertaker burst into tears and at "Jestem Ewa Szajnocha, lat 22, eee... 35." ("I'm Ewa Szajnocha, age 22, argh... 35."). It's a remake of obscure Belgian "Alles is liefde" ("Love is All") from 2007. I haven't seen the original. In the Polish version the love stories are far-fetched and unnatural: either a 40+ woman ditches her 18-year-old lover to return to her aged ex-husband or a quarrelsome, grunting when laughing, shop assistant attracts a celebrity footballer. The hobo hangs a sock to get a present western-style. It's not a Polish tradition. A number of romantic songs in Polish and English.
SOFIA
Recommended. Moving in the beginning, adding suspense shortly and gripping till the very end. And it's... about having a baby and getting married. In Morocco where the situation is a complex case encompassing penal law, business, honour - everything but love.
Tuesday 20 November 2018
FIRST MAN
Watchable. Hardly exciting. A big part comprises of everyday family life and job training. Even when you see the other pilots' deaths it's more of a curiosity that Neil Armstrong got his chances on the back of dead men. There's a fleeting moment of emotion when Neil has to tell his sons he might never be back and of gravitas (pun intended) on the Moon. Nice classical music. Light humour, e.g. about flight controllers who turned all blue and could finally get some oxygen after he succeeded in putting the spacecraft down. But mostly it's dull, just the daily grind of engineering a space flight. Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong looks perfectly resilient to the stress of being an astronaut. The 60s are obviously recreated through costumes and scenography.
WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
PUYA - IM KREIS DER ZEIT (PUYA: IN THE CIRCLE OF TIME)
Watchable. A caged tiger, a suicidal patient, an ailing man reflect the protagonist's entrapment and subdepression. The plot combines three different waves of refugees to present an age-old problem. The director wanted to show the victims of war can be of all nations. Very personal and touching but not intimate enough, shown through wide plans rather. No beginning and no ending.
THE OSLO DIARIES
Recommended. It clarifies the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a layman. But it also showcases how a purely political fight ruined the peace process. The fact remains there are only two options: peace or perpetual war. Since the collapse of the peace process 16 000 people have lost their lives on both sides.
GRZESIUK. FERAJNA WCIAZ GRA
Watchable. A pleasant film with contemporary covers of Grzesiuk's songs and with commentaries by himself (from radio recordings in the 1960s), by people who knew him and by young fans who never had the chance to meet him. Still they have noticed his joie de vivre maintained in spite of having spent 5 years in a concentration camp and suffering from tuberculosis afterwards. At first the lyrics struck me as glorifying violence and theft but once you get to understand how tongue-in-cheek they are you start appreciating the tunes. As for the documentary, I'd rather see less of his fans and would love to hear quotes from his books, especially that, as we hear, he wrote exactly the same way he talked.
Watchable. Hardly exciting. A big part comprises of everyday family life and job training. Even when you see the other pilots' deaths it's more of a curiosity that Neil Armstrong got his chances on the back of dead men. There's a fleeting moment of emotion when Neil has to tell his sons he might never be back and of gravitas (pun intended) on the Moon. Nice classical music. Light humour, e.g. about flight controllers who turned all blue and could finally get some oxygen after he succeeded in putting the spacecraft down. But mostly it's dull, just the daily grind of engineering a space flight. Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong looks perfectly resilient to the stress of being an astronaut. The 60s are obviously recreated through costumes and scenography.
WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
PUYA - IM KREIS DER ZEIT (PUYA: IN THE CIRCLE OF TIME)
Watchable. A caged tiger, a suicidal patient, an ailing man reflect the protagonist's entrapment and subdepression. The plot combines three different waves of refugees to present an age-old problem. The director wanted to show the victims of war can be of all nations. Very personal and touching but not intimate enough, shown through wide plans rather. No beginning and no ending.
THE OSLO DIARIES
Recommended. It clarifies the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a layman. But it also showcases how a purely political fight ruined the peace process. The fact remains there are only two options: peace or perpetual war. Since the collapse of the peace process 16 000 people have lost their lives on both sides.
GRZESIUK. FERAJNA WCIAZ GRA
Watchable. A pleasant film with contemporary covers of Grzesiuk's songs and with commentaries by himself (from radio recordings in the 1960s), by people who knew him and by young fans who never had the chance to meet him. Still they have noticed his joie de vivre maintained in spite of having spent 5 years in a concentration camp and suffering from tuberculosis afterwards. At first the lyrics struck me as glorifying violence and theft but once you get to understand how tongue-in-cheek they are you start appreciating the tunes. As for the documentary, I'd rather see less of his fans and would love to hear quotes from his books, especially that, as we hear, he wrote exactly the same way he talked.
WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
ETGAR KERET: BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Recommended. I've never read his short stories but I became an instant fan after the film. The story's non-linear the way his stories aren't and is as filled with humour as his writing is. Plenty of yarns in the film came from the writer himself. His mother was Polish and used to tell him he was not Israeli but a Pole in exile. The way Astrid Lindgren would tell her son bedtime stories she made up, Etgar's parents used to invent stories for him. His father's tales were centred around brothels, prostitutes, gangsters and drunks. He explained to the 5-year-old Etgar that drunks were people who needed plenty of liquids to make them happy. Later it turns out you never know what is true and what's a lie. But all the stories are positive and tell you something about human nature. Etgar Keret is a joyful person himself. Even though, like all Israelis, who have either killed or have had someone die, he saw his mate dead in the army, he stays positive and boisterous, constantly telling funny stories. He agreed for the documentary because he heard 'no' all the time when he was young and he finally found himself in the position to say 'yes'.
WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY?
Watchable. This documentary ought to be a thriller about how the secret archive survived the war. Instead it's kind of poetic. The ponderings on fear and hunger are too philosophical for my taste. The account of rapidly worsening conditions in the ghetto and the propaganda portraying Jews as a health hazard is more interesting.
OR (MY TREASURE)
Walked out. Daily chores of an ex-prostitute and her teenage children. With needless nudity - not even the prostitute's but her daughter's.
ETGAR KERET: BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Recommended. I've never read his short stories but I became an instant fan after the film. The story's non-linear the way his stories aren't and is as filled with humour as his writing is. Plenty of yarns in the film came from the writer himself. His mother was Polish and used to tell him he was not Israeli but a Pole in exile. The way Astrid Lindgren would tell her son bedtime stories she made up, Etgar's parents used to invent stories for him. His father's tales were centred around brothels, prostitutes, gangsters and drunks. He explained to the 5-year-old Etgar that drunks were people who needed plenty of liquids to make them happy. Later it turns out you never know what is true and what's a lie. But all the stories are positive and tell you something about human nature. Etgar Keret is a joyful person himself. Even though, like all Israelis, who have either killed or have had someone die, he saw his mate dead in the army, he stays positive and boisterous, constantly telling funny stories. He agreed for the documentary because he heard 'no' all the time when he was young and he finally found himself in the position to say 'yes'.
WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY?
Watchable. This documentary ought to be a thriller about how the secret archive survived the war. Instead it's kind of poetic. The ponderings on fear and hunger are too philosophical for my taste. The account of rapidly worsening conditions in the ghetto and the propaganda portraying Jews as a health hazard is more interesting.
OR (MY TREASURE)
Walked out. Daily chores of an ex-prostitute and her teenage children. With needless nudity - not even the prostitute's but her daughter's.
Monday 19 November 2018
WIDOWS
Recommended. A cinematic remake of the serial from 1983 by Lynda La Plante - just as engaging as the original. I don't remember much from the time I watched it in childhood but the cry in front of the mirror rang some bells, the weight training got shortened in the movie - formed a significant part of the suspense in the serial, I'm not sure about Harry's reappearance but that may well have been in the original too. Chicago gangs are probably a new addition. Reverend Wheeler's tie has a snake-like pattern which I think constitutes a reference to the colloquial Christian association with a snake - here the temptation is money. Elizabeth Debicki's character is 3rd generation Polish. In reality the actress is 2nd generation half-Polish after her father. Hans Zimmer's music is unnoticable but certainly builds the tension.
CINEMAFORUM
I participated in and watch only some of the program.
FIVE EVENTS:
EDUCATION OF A LOOK
That was a series of 3 meetings educating the viewer on film analysis. I took part only in part of one - on editing, by Agnieszka Korycka, and it was fantastic. Opened my eyes.
CASTING! - MEETING WITH A CASTING DIRECTOR AT ARTES LIBERALES
Michał Oleszczyk who organized the meeting and conducted it, outside the festival, was rewarded at Cinemaforum for propagating such events.
ROJST - CASE STUDY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AN EDITOR - RAFAL LISTOPAD
Interesting and informative.
THE JOB OF A CINEMATOGRAPHER - BY MIKOLAJ LEBKOWSKI
Boring, hardly to the point. I walked out.
LOW-BUDGET FILM DIRECTION - BY WOJCIECH SOLARZ
He was droning on and on but you could extract some hard facts. He initially calculated the cost at 40K but the final expenditure amounted to 450K. All actors worked for free - well, for a percentage from future profit but there is none. The whole work took 2 months which covered preparation, 15 days of shooting and post-production. It was funded from his own means. Only at the last stage Polish Television threw in 40K. He also mentioned that 1 page of a script was typically one minute in a film. He took music from internet stocks which cost only 1 K for 20 pieces. Only composing a "Swan Lake" parody cost him a few thousand. His movie, "Okna, okna", luckily and unexpectedly turned out to be superb - both technically and plot-wise.
13 SHORT FILMS:
WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP
Watchable. About a rock band so not my cup of tea but the music turned out to be really good. The story's far from typical. I only truly hated shocking the viewers with tits i.e. talking about breastfeeding and using milk pumps.
MANNIVALD
Watchable. The story's told with a pinch of salt. The characters' motivations aren't 100% clear.
LA PERSISTENTE
Watchable. Outstanding cinematography giving the effect of 3D in a 2D film. At the same time make-up and special effects look cheap.
SOMBRA
Watchable. The sun and sea look nice but the girls talk about nothing. You expect something to happen so there's enigma but no definite conclusion.
THE NEPHEW
Watchable. Disturbing in terms of an uncle taking his unwilling, decent nephew to a brothel. The boy has a soothing effect on the sex worker but his romantic illusions get ruined. The youngster brings some hope. Just as does the young male director veering away from sexism.
ZWYKLE LOSY ZOFII
Watchable. Called "stupid" in childhood by her father, later harassed by a psycho boyfriend and hearing sexually-charged comments from her boss she reacts - the paper-cutter scene is brilliant. The ending's a cliche.
SAND
Recommended. A story of the daily struggle with life - the man's trying to be perfect but the sand still gathers.
YESTERDAY OR THE DAY BEFORE
Watchable. Ambiguous - not clear who's dead so the film's fascinating and irritating at the same time.
BONOBO
Watchable. It made me aware of my moving flat trauma. The plot where a malfunctioning lift brings out the ape in us resembles "The Square". Great dancing. Starts making sense only towards the end.
BETWEEN THE SHADOWS
Watchable. Interesting combination of an actors' picture and animation. I also liked the bank of hearts in the story. But it's noir, with a monotonous off-screen commentary.
WE'RE HUMAN, AFTER ALL
Recommended. About our ambivalent attitude to animals. It's terrible to see the hare trembling in fear.
SEAGULL
Watchable. I don't understand why the woman's lying to her father. It's also not clear from the film her father's dying, I only found it in the synopsis. The veterinarian medicine layer's interesting.
SWEET HOME CZYZEWO
Watchable. A guy returns from the US to his home village. Everything goes wrong, his dreams get ruined by small-town mentality of the locals. Engaging and upsetting. The scene with a rope is excellent - first you think he's going to hang himself.
TWO FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS:
SONNENINSEL (THE SUN ISLAND)
Watchable. A quaint picture where the director's family relations didn't disturb even though didn't interest me. Due to the Independence Day celebrations I got to the screening 35 minutes late but what I saw showed on the margin the history of Jews before WW2 and of men during the war, e.g. even a 61-year-old was drafted in 1944.
OKNA,OKNA
Recommended. Low-budget but fully professional. A tongue-in-cheek script, great comedy actors, top-notch pictures, music and sound effects. I loved the bit with a few armed guys trudging through a stream in the forest with a stride characteristic of American soldiers in movies on Vietnam war. The story's comical from scene one and the plot full of mystery.
Recommended. A cinematic remake of the serial from 1983 by Lynda La Plante - just as engaging as the original. I don't remember much from the time I watched it in childhood but the cry in front of the mirror rang some bells, the weight training got shortened in the movie - formed a significant part of the suspense in the serial, I'm not sure about Harry's reappearance but that may well have been in the original too. Chicago gangs are probably a new addition. Reverend Wheeler's tie has a snake-like pattern which I think constitutes a reference to the colloquial Christian association with a snake - here the temptation is money. Elizabeth Debicki's character is 3rd generation Polish. In reality the actress is 2nd generation half-Polish after her father. Hans Zimmer's music is unnoticable but certainly builds the tension.
CINEMAFORUM
I participated in and watch only some of the program.
FIVE EVENTS:
EDUCATION OF A LOOK
That was a series of 3 meetings educating the viewer on film analysis. I took part only in part of one - on editing, by Agnieszka Korycka, and it was fantastic. Opened my eyes.
CASTING! - MEETING WITH A CASTING DIRECTOR AT ARTES LIBERALES
Michał Oleszczyk who organized the meeting and conducted it, outside the festival, was rewarded at Cinemaforum for propagating such events.
ROJST - CASE STUDY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AN EDITOR - RAFAL LISTOPAD
Interesting and informative.
THE JOB OF A CINEMATOGRAPHER - BY MIKOLAJ LEBKOWSKI
Boring, hardly to the point. I walked out.
LOW-BUDGET FILM DIRECTION - BY WOJCIECH SOLARZ
He was droning on and on but you could extract some hard facts. He initially calculated the cost at 40K but the final expenditure amounted to 450K. All actors worked for free - well, for a percentage from future profit but there is none. The whole work took 2 months which covered preparation, 15 days of shooting and post-production. It was funded from his own means. Only at the last stage Polish Television threw in 40K. He also mentioned that 1 page of a script was typically one minute in a film. He took music from internet stocks which cost only 1 K for 20 pieces. Only composing a "Swan Lake" parody cost him a few thousand. His movie, "Okna, okna", luckily and unexpectedly turned out to be superb - both technically and plot-wise.
13 SHORT FILMS:
WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP
Watchable. About a rock band so not my cup of tea but the music turned out to be really good. The story's far from typical. I only truly hated shocking the viewers with tits i.e. talking about breastfeeding and using milk pumps.
MANNIVALD
Watchable. The story's told with a pinch of salt. The characters' motivations aren't 100% clear.
LA PERSISTENTE
Watchable. Outstanding cinematography giving the effect of 3D in a 2D film. At the same time make-up and special effects look cheap.
SOMBRA
Watchable. The sun and sea look nice but the girls talk about nothing. You expect something to happen so there's enigma but no definite conclusion.
THE NEPHEW
Watchable. Disturbing in terms of an uncle taking his unwilling, decent nephew to a brothel. The boy has a soothing effect on the sex worker but his romantic illusions get ruined. The youngster brings some hope. Just as does the young male director veering away from sexism.
ZWYKLE LOSY ZOFII
Watchable. Called "stupid" in childhood by her father, later harassed by a psycho boyfriend and hearing sexually-charged comments from her boss she reacts - the paper-cutter scene is brilliant. The ending's a cliche.
SAND
Recommended. A story of the daily struggle with life - the man's trying to be perfect but the sand still gathers.
YESTERDAY OR THE DAY BEFORE
Watchable. Ambiguous - not clear who's dead so the film's fascinating and irritating at the same time.
BONOBO
Watchable. It made me aware of my moving flat trauma. The plot where a malfunctioning lift brings out the ape in us resembles "The Square". Great dancing. Starts making sense only towards the end.
BETWEEN THE SHADOWS
Watchable. Interesting combination of an actors' picture and animation. I also liked the bank of hearts in the story. But it's noir, with a monotonous off-screen commentary.
WE'RE HUMAN, AFTER ALL
Recommended. About our ambivalent attitude to animals. It's terrible to see the hare trembling in fear.
SEAGULL
Watchable. I don't understand why the woman's lying to her father. It's also not clear from the film her father's dying, I only found it in the synopsis. The veterinarian medicine layer's interesting.
SWEET HOME CZYZEWO
Watchable. A guy returns from the US to his home village. Everything goes wrong, his dreams get ruined by small-town mentality of the locals. Engaging and upsetting. The scene with a rope is excellent - first you think he's going to hang himself.
TWO FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS:
SONNENINSEL (THE SUN ISLAND)
Watchable. A quaint picture where the director's family relations didn't disturb even though didn't interest me. Due to the Independence Day celebrations I got to the screening 35 minutes late but what I saw showed on the margin the history of Jews before WW2 and of men during the war, e.g. even a 61-year-old was drafted in 1944.
OKNA,OKNA
Recommended. Low-budget but fully professional. A tongue-in-cheek script, great comedy actors, top-notch pictures, music and sound effects. I loved the bit with a few armed guys trudging through a stream in the forest with a stride characteristic of American soldiers in movies on Vietnam war. The story's comical from scene one and the plot full of mystery.
Tuesday 13 November 2018
АЙКА (AYKA)
Recommended. Harrowing. An illegal migrant on the run from a gang she owes money to leaves her newborn and roams the streets of Moscow though bleeding from her abdomen. What is happening to her is just unhuman. The cold and snow drifts reflect the cold of the people in the city and barriers at each step of her road. The glimpses of the rich only rub her nose in it. The scenes with bitches at the vet get stronger and heart breaking as you realize dogs get better treatment than she does. When you think life can't get any worse for any human, the finale proves you wrong. Powerful stuff.
On a separate occasion I talked to "Ayka" cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska who shed more light on the production. Previously she worked with director Agnieszka Holland on "Spoor" ("Pokot") and "W ciemnosci" ("In Darkness") so in different aesthetics. "Ayka" is the Kazakh Oscar candidate though with no money for promotion. It was shot in Moscow in 6 consecutive winters. The city has Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik immigrants but not Kazakh. The lead is a Kazakh actress coached to speak Kyrgyz - she uses expressions natural to the Kyrgyz but her pronunciation, according to the dialect coach, is a bit off. Tomek Matraszek made up the dogs to look injured. The vet was acted by a real vet - director Sergey Dvortsevoy, who earlier made "Tulpan", likes working with non-professional actors. The midwife was also a real life midwife - in the film she acted and consulted on babies. Sergey Dvortsevoy used to make documentaries but shooting them he used to cross boundaries and feared he'd become an evil person. He shot the whole movie chronologically which was convenient for the cinematographer. On the streets of Moscow and in the metro she shot illegally with a hidden camera. The script initially was more complex but the director cut out some, e.g. there would have been more interaction with her flatmates, a scene in a bank but he got rid of whatever dragged. Jolanta Dylewska is going to release her own documentary next year - about Marek Edelman and love in the ghetto.
WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL
살아남은 아이 (LAST CHILD)
Recommended. A gripping thriller. The atmosphere's so dense you can cut it with a knife.
Recommended. Harrowing. An illegal migrant on the run from a gang she owes money to leaves her newborn and roams the streets of Moscow though bleeding from her abdomen. What is happening to her is just unhuman. The cold and snow drifts reflect the cold of the people in the city and barriers at each step of her road. The glimpses of the rich only rub her nose in it. The scenes with bitches at the vet get stronger and heart breaking as you realize dogs get better treatment than she does. When you think life can't get any worse for any human, the finale proves you wrong. Powerful stuff.
On a separate occasion I talked to "Ayka" cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska who shed more light on the production. Previously she worked with director Agnieszka Holland on "Spoor" ("Pokot") and "W ciemnosci" ("In Darkness") so in different aesthetics. "Ayka" is the Kazakh Oscar candidate though with no money for promotion. It was shot in Moscow in 6 consecutive winters. The city has Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik immigrants but not Kazakh. The lead is a Kazakh actress coached to speak Kyrgyz - she uses expressions natural to the Kyrgyz but her pronunciation, according to the dialect coach, is a bit off. Tomek Matraszek made up the dogs to look injured. The vet was acted by a real vet - director Sergey Dvortsevoy, who earlier made "Tulpan", likes working with non-professional actors. The midwife was also a real life midwife - in the film she acted and consulted on babies. Sergey Dvortsevoy used to make documentaries but shooting them he used to cross boundaries and feared he'd become an evil person. He shot the whole movie chronologically which was convenient for the cinematographer. On the streets of Moscow and in the metro she shot illegally with a hidden camera. The script initially was more complex but the director cut out some, e.g. there would have been more interaction with her flatmates, a scene in a bank but he got rid of whatever dragged. Jolanta Dylewska is going to release her own documentary next year - about Marek Edelman and love in the ghetto.
WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL
살아남은 아이 (LAST CHILD)
Recommended. A gripping thriller. The atmosphere's so dense you can cut it with a knife.
Monday 12 November 2018
WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL
The introduction to "만다라" ("Mandala") by film critic 정성일 (Jung Sung-Il - not a correct transcription of hangul but used probably to differentiate him from similar-looking in English names of a film producer and a script writer) reminded me of how I was selling "Dekalog" to South Korea years ago. The Korean critic clearly knew the series. He compared "만다라" ("Mandala") to the Polish series since it's not strictly a religious movie but one around the values in which each Asian/European (respectively) person was brought up. The director, 임권택 (Im Kwon-taek), is not a Buddhist. The film critic explained also that the protagonists represented the 2 distinct methods in Buddhism: reaching enlightenment through self-study or entering the world.
만다라 (MANDALA)
Watchable. It's terribly philosophical and I was more interested in how they lived in their worlds rather than the issues of finding your self. It's overtalked and unsophisticated plot-wise but tackles the superficiality of the common man's religiousness. Even if gimmicky, it touches the core.
델타보이즈 (DELTA BOYS)
Walked out. In the beginning the guys call each other morons. Rightly so. Supposed to be a comedy about a band. Instead it's not funny and at least for the first 40 minutes there's no music, not even in the background.
ALPHA
Watchable. An adventure movie for children, dubbed in Polish cinemas. I nearly laughed at the macho title, the main protagonist getting a ritual beating supposed to toughen him up and bonding with a wolf. But cute Chuck acts as wolf Alpha and awe-inspiring landscapes of the far north: tundra, snow and ice, northern lights, star-studded skies make up for the patriarchal plot. Shot in Alberta, Canada.
TROPPA GRAZIA (LUCIA'S GRACE)
Watchable. An unusual story. Modern Italy. A separated mum of a fencing trainee daughter works as a land surveyor. The contemporariness is amplified by modern cinematography and use of light. Then the modern, non-religious woman has a revelation. The Mother of God is no benevolent though. Astonished with disobedience she beats the woman up. Her husband has "resistance is futile" on a T-shirt at some point.
PETTERSSON UND FINDUS - DAS SCHÖNSTE WEIHNACHTEN ÜBERHAUPT
(PETTSON AND FINDUS: THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER)
Recommended. I'd love to see more of it. A perfect Christmas tale. A kid-like cat, lots of situation humour, warmth, cuteness, delightful songs about the holiday and preparations for it. The cat is cartoon in real life scenography with real life people, a dog, a fox, an ermine, dressed up and talking hens and animated little creatures inhabiting the house. The picture is perfectly suited for children and I loved it too. Kids present at the screening started dancing afterwards. Curiously the film about the traditional Christmas celebration was directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi. In the Polish version - dubbed, as usual - some songs are in English and some in Polish to a great effect, e.g. "Brud, brud, brud, usunąć brud, wreszcie czysto będzie tu" catches the ear in Polish. In original the songs are in German and English so dual language too. There's a post-credit.
I've just read one of the book series - not a Christmas one but still: "Stackars Pettson" ("Wishing to Go Fishing") by Sven Nordqvist. In the movie more space is given to other characters, i.e. other creatures inhabiting the house, while the book focuses on the Petterson and Findus duo. While the Swedish author illustrates his books too, the movie visually surpasses the book. Still, his detailed illustrations show the house is full of the lively cat. The text is quite expressive. Pettson, just like in the movie, scolds the cat like a naughty kid.
The introduction to "만다라" ("Mandala") by film critic 정성일 (Jung Sung-Il - not a correct transcription of hangul but used probably to differentiate him from similar-looking in English names of a film producer and a script writer) reminded me of how I was selling "Dekalog" to South Korea years ago. The Korean critic clearly knew the series. He compared "만다라" ("Mandala") to the Polish series since it's not strictly a religious movie but one around the values in which each Asian/European (respectively) person was brought up. The director, 임권택 (Im Kwon-taek), is not a Buddhist. The film critic explained also that the protagonists represented the 2 distinct methods in Buddhism: reaching enlightenment through self-study or entering the world.
만다라 (MANDALA)
Watchable. It's terribly philosophical and I was more interested in how they lived in their worlds rather than the issues of finding your self. It's overtalked and unsophisticated plot-wise but tackles the superficiality of the common man's religiousness. Even if gimmicky, it touches the core.
델타보이즈 (DELTA BOYS)
Walked out. In the beginning the guys call each other morons. Rightly so. Supposed to be a comedy about a band. Instead it's not funny and at least for the first 40 minutes there's no music, not even in the background.
ALPHA
Watchable. An adventure movie for children, dubbed in Polish cinemas. I nearly laughed at the macho title, the main protagonist getting a ritual beating supposed to toughen him up and bonding with a wolf. But cute Chuck acts as wolf Alpha and awe-inspiring landscapes of the far north: tundra, snow and ice, northern lights, star-studded skies make up for the patriarchal plot. Shot in Alberta, Canada.
TROPPA GRAZIA (LUCIA'S GRACE)
Watchable. An unusual story. Modern Italy. A separated mum of a fencing trainee daughter works as a land surveyor. The contemporariness is amplified by modern cinematography and use of light. Then the modern, non-religious woman has a revelation. The Mother of God is no benevolent though. Astonished with disobedience she beats the woman up. Her husband has "resistance is futile" on a T-shirt at some point.
PETTERSSON UND FINDUS - DAS SCHÖNSTE WEIHNACHTEN ÜBERHAUPT
(PETTSON AND FINDUS: THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER)
Recommended. I'd love to see more of it. A perfect Christmas tale. A kid-like cat, lots of situation humour, warmth, cuteness, delightful songs about the holiday and preparations for it. The cat is cartoon in real life scenography with real life people, a dog, a fox, an ermine, dressed up and talking hens and animated little creatures inhabiting the house. The picture is perfectly suited for children and I loved it too. Kids present at the screening started dancing afterwards. Curiously the film about the traditional Christmas celebration was directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi. In the Polish version - dubbed, as usual - some songs are in English and some in Polish to a great effect, e.g. "Brud, brud, brud, usunąć brud, wreszcie czysto będzie tu" catches the ear in Polish. In original the songs are in German and English so dual language too. There's a post-credit.
I've just read one of the book series - not a Christmas one but still: "Stackars Pettson" ("Wishing to Go Fishing") by Sven Nordqvist. In the movie more space is given to other characters, i.e. other creatures inhabiting the house, while the book focuses on the Petterson and Findus duo. While the Swedish author illustrates his books too, the movie visually surpasses the book. Still, his detailed illustrations show the house is full of the lively cat. The text is quite expressive. Pettson, just like in the movie, scolds the cat like a naughty kid.
Saturday 10 November 2018
THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB
Watchable. I loved "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but in this part about Lisbeth Salander, with a different - although action-appropriate - actress, improbabilities pile up so badly it's an insult to your intelligence. I watched it only to see how it writes into the whole story. The movie's painfully derivative. The plot about a large-scale security operation and Lisbeth this time are so Bourne-like I waited to hear 'Blackbriar'. The beginning evokes associations with "X-Men" and Libby's sister becomes her arch enemy and as such wears a bright red almost-a-uniform. One of characters wears a mask covering his ripped out face which looks much like in the superhero genre. But it's neither a crime thriller nor a superhero flick. I liked the heartfelt sister-to-sister talk in the finale.
Watchable. I loved "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but in this part about Lisbeth Salander, with a different - although action-appropriate - actress, improbabilities pile up so badly it's an insult to your intelligence. I watched it only to see how it writes into the whole story. The movie's painfully derivative. The plot about a large-scale security operation and Lisbeth this time are so Bourne-like I waited to hear 'Blackbriar'. The beginning evokes associations with "X-Men" and Libby's sister becomes her arch enemy and as such wears a bright red almost-a-uniform. One of characters wears a mask covering his ripped out face which looks much like in the superhero genre. But it's neither a crime thriller nor a superhero flick. I liked the heartfelt sister-to-sister talk in the finale.
Monday 5 November 2018
WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL
택시운전사 (A TAXI DRIVER)
Recommended. A solid dose of entertainment and also of Korean history of the second half of the 20th century. Turns out South Korea was under martial law just 2 years earlier than Poland. Yet the movie's barely sombre. Daytime pictures are in vivid colours, characteristic orange hues exemplify the night. Western classical music (violins) is used in the soundtrack. The beginning and some situations here and there through the movie are quite comical. I was laughing loud when the German reporter had kimchi. The pregnant woman in the beginning was a gimmick and the early part is quite stereotypical so it's not truly Oscar-worthy. But 13 million viewers in Korea didn't go wrong. The movie makes you laugh, shed some tears and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
택시운전사 (A TAXI DRIVER)
Recommended. A solid dose of entertainment and also of Korean history of the second half of the 20th century. Turns out South Korea was under martial law just 2 years earlier than Poland. Yet the movie's barely sombre. Daytime pictures are in vivid colours, characteristic orange hues exemplify the night. Western classical music (violins) is used in the soundtrack. The beginning and some situations here and there through the movie are quite comical. I was laughing loud when the German reporter had kimchi. The pregnant woman in the beginning was a gimmick and the early part is quite stereotypical so it's not truly Oscar-worthy. But 13 million viewers in Korea didn't go wrong. The movie makes you laugh, shed some tears and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
CHEF FLYNN
Recommended. It started with an alcoholic father and next came school bullying. Thankfully the father left the family to treat his addiction and returned years later. Luckily, too, the mother is an independent and creative person herself so she withdrew her son from school seeing him pushed by a kid. That's how he avoided the fate of those who got damaged mentally by the peer group. Curiously, an alcoholic father is a common denomination of future chefs who regain control through work in the kitchen. But from the documentary covering the teenager's all life so far you see also the kid's innate optimism and leadership - well, the latter supported by his extremely involved mum. The rest of the young chef's development was online research, imagination and focus. Interesting that Flynn McGarry moved all the way from LA to NYC to forward his cooking career there. Another trivia is the acclaimed prodigy chef snacking on... junk food. The film makes the best of showcasing the accuracy with which the dishes are composed to please the eye in the first place. Flynn is so cute you start to wonder if he had become equally popular if he had been ugly. The relatively short, well-paced film has done best showing Flynn's can-do attitude at times of troubles and frustration. It has clearly worked. Another thing is that the boy is doing what he loves so, in a way, this toil is no work at all.
As for a documentary concocted out of home videos, Flynn and his mum's utterances, scenes from kitchens and markets and shots of food, it's truly professional. Even the music during the credits attracts. Most importantly, now I'd love to try the beet Wellington I had never heard of before.
Recommended. It started with an alcoholic father and next came school bullying. Thankfully the father left the family to treat his addiction and returned years later. Luckily, too, the mother is an independent and creative person herself so she withdrew her son from school seeing him pushed by a kid. That's how he avoided the fate of those who got damaged mentally by the peer group. Curiously, an alcoholic father is a common denomination of future chefs who regain control through work in the kitchen. But from the documentary covering the teenager's all life so far you see also the kid's innate optimism and leadership - well, the latter supported by his extremely involved mum. The rest of the young chef's development was online research, imagination and focus. Interesting that Flynn McGarry moved all the way from LA to NYC to forward his cooking career there. Another trivia is the acclaimed prodigy chef snacking on... junk food. The film makes the best of showcasing the accuracy with which the dishes are composed to please the eye in the first place. Flynn is so cute you start to wonder if he had become equally popular if he had been ugly. The relatively short, well-paced film has done best showing Flynn's can-do attitude at times of troubles and frustration. It has clearly worked. Another thing is that the boy is doing what he loves so, in a way, this toil is no work at all.
As for a documentary concocted out of home videos, Flynn and his mum's utterances, scenes from kitchens and markets and shots of food, it's truly professional. Even the music during the credits attracts. Most importantly, now I'd love to try the beet Wellington I had never heard of before.
Saturday 3 November 2018
NOVEMBER
Watchable. Weird. Among the Polish Film Institute experts who recommended financing this four-country co-production are Xawery Żuławski, who made "Wojna polsko-ruska" (Polish-Russian War") and Agnieszka Holland, responsible for "Pokot" ("Spoor") - both equally weird movies. Starts and ends with predominance of white. The whole film is black and white, with amateurish costumes and old music which gives an impression of a movie made a few decades ago. Specific style of acting makes me wonder if it's a maladroit flop or mid-20th-century on purpose. Lots of Estonian folklore hardly comprehensible to the outside world. It has some charm of an old folk tale with magic but looks like theatre shot on locations. Slow and lengthy hence tiring too.
Watchable. Weird. Among the Polish Film Institute experts who recommended financing this four-country co-production are Xawery Żuławski, who made "Wojna polsko-ruska" (Polish-Russian War") and Agnieszka Holland, responsible for "Pokot" ("Spoor") - both equally weird movies. Starts and ends with predominance of white. The whole film is black and white, with amateurish costumes and old music which gives an impression of a movie made a few decades ago. Specific style of acting makes me wonder if it's a maladroit flop or mid-20th-century on purpose. Lots of Estonian folklore hardly comprehensible to the outside world. It has some charm of an old folk tale with magic but looks like theatre shot on locations. Slow and lengthy hence tiring too.
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