Movie reviews

MILOSC I MILOSIERDZIE (LOVE AND MERCY)

I attended a meeting with the two lead actors and the producer before I got the chance to see the film. Kamila Kamińska, the lead actress, simplified the script since her first impression was that such a spiritual person wouldn't have talked so much. She also prepared for the role spending time with nuns in a convent where her life comprised of joyous simple activities and next in another one, with the rule of silence, which gave her an opportunity to rest and sleep - in St. Faustyna's House in Ostrówek. It was then that she started to understand St. Faustyna's diary and discovered what attention to details Faustyna paid. The nuns helped her achieve the required look. They "can always recognize if the robe has been adjusted by a make-up artist, not a professional nun". Nowadays nuns' habits are more comfortable but she wore the old type for the movie. Michał Sopoćko, the priest presented in the film, who later became a saint, felt no sanctitude in himself. He was very down to earth in real life, e.g. once a woman was banging on the chapel door: "Duch Świety kazal mi tu lezec krzyzem w kaplicy i adorowac przez 3 godziny" ("The Holy Spirit has ordered me to lie prostrate here in the chapel and adore for 3 hours.") He resolutely responded: "O ktorej godzinie byl u pani Duch Swiety?" ("What time was the Holy Spirit at yours?") "O 10." ("At 10.") "Aha, bo u mnie byl o 11. i odwolal." ("Aha, because he was at mine at 11 and cancelled it.") The painting created according to St. Faustyna's instructions squares with the Shroud of Turin in the main 8 points. Since there are white and red rays in the picture, it's treated as very Polish. Now the painting's owned by Lithuania. Two versions of the film have been shot. The English one was presented in Vatican. It's going to have a wide distribution: April-May 9 countries in Europe, September 800 screens in the US, also South America, the Philippines and South Korea. As for Lithuania, it's planned to be screened there in one month. At the end of the meeting someone asked the makers a biased question. He wanted them to reassure him that this movie is the true picture of the Church, unlike "Kler" ("Clergy"). The guy was upset when Kamila Kamińska answered that it was good that this one showed "the other side of the Church". 

BASIA 2

Watchable. The houses in the town in this animation look like a few separate layers, ignoring the existence of 3 dimensions in buildings. But it's filled with bright colours. The stories are pleasant and while not exactly captivating for an adult, very appropriate for young children whom they teach important life lessons.