Movie reviews

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.