ΜΕΛΑ (APPLES)
Recommended. The Greek production is austere but engaging, something you find in this country's cinema often. The set-up is perversely familiar and relatable. When you hear that there's "no cure" and that "no one has returned to their previous life" it sounds very much like pandemic experiences. But here the disease affecting the whole society - the ill and the healthy alike - is amnesia. The science-fiction set-up is played out as a psychological drama. At some point you realize someone has a secret. The ending reveals the reason for the deception. Smartly scripted. Convincingly acted. Thought-provoking and truly original.
PROSTE RZECZY (SIMPLE THINGS)
Switched off. Why would I watch such boring people living their empty life? Both the family and the makers look scruffy, as if they've never heard of a comb and they have a toddler who is no more disgusting than the neglected adults are. An amateurish production throughout.
SLUZOBNICI (SERVANTS)
Watchable. The Slovak offering tries very hard to imitate the Polish "Zimna wojna" ("Cold War") with an element of "Kler" ("Clergy"). It's high contrast black and white, set during the Cold War and a priest protagonist ran over someone when drunk. The main plot, however, is far from the Polish hits. The Slovak one deals with the Church forced to collaborate with communist authorities. But the movie drags awfully. Never mind meticulous cinematography, e.g. a spiral staircase looking like a fossil snail shell, a white steamy bathroom or an air shot of priests playing footie resembling crows. It's style over substance.
A METAMORFOSE DOS PASSAROS (THE METAMORPHOSIS OF BIRDS)
Switched off. The opening shocks you with a close-up of a face. But what follows are musings in a narrative form which don't translate well to the screen. It's Portuguese and their movies tend to be slow. So that completes the ruin of the picture.
Reviewed from online screeners but the movies are being released at cinemas today.
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