Movie reviews

W JAK MORDERSTWO

Recommended. Based on the crime comedy novel by Katarzyna Gacek and scripted by herself, together with director Piotr Mularuk. The opening typography already manifests originality, next comes a perfect character exposition - you effortlessly and effectively learn who is who together with their personality types. Dorota Roqueplo has designed costumes and they are memorable. Magda's outfits look casual but graceful and the police detective wears a macintosh coat resembling that of Columbo's. Magda's clothes even match interiors, also carefully designed. Attention to detail extends to music and sound effects. "Kung Fu Fighting" is used ingeniously. The "Pink Panther Theme" is the accidental sleuth's mobile ringtone. At some point a peacock's shriek is heard on entry to a posh residence, shortly to be repeated as Weronika's. Humour ranges from situation type, e.g. Magda's hiding dancing on stage, to verbal, e.g. "Skontland Yard". You're rewarded for being observant, e.g. spotting ul. Zdrady (Betrayal Street). You can bet on the twists of action. Superb performances on absolutely all parts mean it's excellently directed. The movie's well-paced too. The structure is impeccable. Maybe a perfect crime doesn't exist. But a perfect crime comedy does.

SCIEMA PO POLSKU

Watchable. Kurka Wodna Productions (the company's name could be translated as: 'Blimey Productions') was such a witty name I was immediately hopeful it might be a quality comedy. Far from that. How is it even possible to release a movie that sexist?! It's all about girls being dumb but with big silicon tits which they often show naked or are made to present to the director by deception or violence. The movie he's telling them he's shooting is about a perv. But the true perv is the director himself. At least it's sensibly cut, fast-paced and has a surrounding sound - though some of the dialogue is incomprehensible, even if you speak perfect Polish.

The director, Mariusz Pujszo, is a cinematic case of the Dunning-Kruger effect: the worse the movie, the more confident the director is. At the same time, even though he was so full of himself, he instructed his team and friends to put high notes for the movie on Filmweb. Hapless ordinary viewers will be less inclined to do that. Anyway, don't trust the Filmweb rating too much.