Movie reviews

POMIEDZY

Watchable. This 23-minute documentary, designed for school workshops, could do with a better cut. The opening with war images is immediately engaging, though not all protagonists are refugees. The middle is some blabber about what they do in Poland, with only occasional cultural trivia, e.g. Vietnamese nightlife is vibrant, streets are crowded and noisy so in Poland, empty streets at night feel sad. Still, the jokes over the end credits are the best. The whole thing is disappointing, too little entertainment and too much superficiality.

One of the protagonists passed away of Covid before he managed to see the film.

The film is already available on Heinrich Boell's Youtube channel, sadly in Polish only.

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD

Watchable. This movie shot in New Mexico has an unusual setting where a firewoman and a couple of survival experts are forced to fend against ruthless hitmen chasing a boy witness across woods. An inventive and engaging plot with some practical tips on surviving a wilderness fire. Only the creation of Angelina Jolie's character as a run-of-the-mill troubled superfit ultrasmart heroine detracts from this irregular story.

BEZ KONCA - EXHIBITION

The exhibition has opened at EC1 Łódź to commemorate Krzysztof Kieślowski's 80th anniversary of birth. I'm not going to Łódź but, as one of few media at a conference preceding the opening, I'm forwarding what I learnt. 

Since dialogue or monologue is typical for Kieślowski's films, the exhibition has been designed as a dialogue as well. You'll find scripts, letters, memorabilia, and recordings where you can listen to someone your age in 1970 answer Kieślowski's 3 fundamental questions.  

He overworked himself. In the past, lots of movie posters used to hang in cities because a poster was a make it or break it for an upcoming release. He smoked a lot and was withdrawn - the exhibition poster by Andrzej Pągowski reflects both. In the past, lots of movie posters used to hang in cities because a poster was a make it or break it for an upcoming release. While he often painted posters promoting the director's films, Kieślowski wasn't always happy about them. When Pągowski painted a double shoelace for "Podwójne życie Weroniki" ("The Double Life of Veronique"), Kieślowski didn't like it but didn't demand a change, unlike Wajda who would insist on specific alterations whenever he didn't like the artist's poster.

Scriptwriter Jacek Bromski commented on the lack of censorship on the Internet which has changed the perception of art nowadays. According to him, Kieślowski would put grassroots work (as I'd describe Polish pozytywizm) values into his films, he believed you have to build.