Movie reviews

CATS

Walked out. My eyes and ears couldn't stand it. Only the first song was up to scratch. From then on it goes downhill. Untrained vocals and poor arrangement. Bad, discordant music is called 'kocia muzyka' (literally 'cat music') in Poland - an apt term for the movie. Visually it's even worse. Dull, brownish hues dominate the screen most of the time. Dancers' movements look so unnatural at times I could bet they were CGI-assisted. Rebel Wilson and James Corden - the chubby cats - are vulgar instead of cute or comical. At times it felt like finding yourself in a lift with a perv.

BOZE CIALO (CORPUS CHRISTI) OSCAR NOMINATION

In Poland it's seen as another success of Polish culture after Sapkowski and Tokarczuk. It's also the 3rd year in a row that a Polish movie gets a nomination. It's a direct result of the support of the Polish Film Institute being higher and higher every year. On the other hand, Polish audience at Polish films also grows by 50% every year. Last year's nominee, "Zimna wojna" ("Cold War"), had received some European awards first. But "Boże ciało" ("Corpus Christi"), which received a long applause at the festival in Venice, in September 2019 was unknown in the US and no ranking, whether by "Hollywood Reporter" or "Variety", included it. The top of the ranking is still "기생충" ("Parasite"). The Polish Film Institute has been sponsoring the Oscar promotion. Its main task was to make people who write and Academy members see it. Jan Komasa, Piotr Sobociński and Bartosz Bielenia are in the US now and are attending lots of Q&As. Few people in the US had bet on the movie to be shortlisted in the first place. Even the producer describes the script as "very Polish, local". But 45 territories, on all continents, purchased the movie. The US theatrical distribution starts in February. In the US arthouse movies get 20-30 screens, blockbusters 2000, Poles are dreaming of getting 100 screens for "Boże ciało" ("Corpus Christi"). The Oscar nomination means different things to different people. Actor Tomasz Ziętek is happy that his foreign friends will finally see it. Oscar-nominated producers get funds easier. Editor Przemysław Chruścielewski says that the Oscar label is lifelong. He perceives editing as "a beautiful tool to manipulate emotions".