Movie reviews

THE GREEN KNIGHT

Watchable. Profligate, dissolute Sir Gawain embarks on a mystical journey. The plot, based on a medieval poem, and the artistic vision are quite original. This oneiric dark fantasy invites you to search for your own meanings. At the same time it disconcerts you with associations. I'm immensely impressed by the artistry, the eerie images, foreboding sounds. Unsettling music, recorded in Atmos, is a mixture of Celtic, operatic, Gregorian, with a soprano choir that still sounded in my ears after leaving the theatre. But the whole story is maintained in one mood. This movie is one to be seen at the cinema. My only problem is the film badly drags. I was struggling not to fall asleep at the most protracted moments.

REPUBLIKA DZIECI (THE REPUBLIC OF CHILDREN)

Watchable. Just because once it started I was curious of the conclusion. Jan Jakub Kolski's film drawing on Jacek Malczewski's paintings implied a double-insured ticket to a fantasy realm. But the costumes, make-up, bottom-end cinematography by Michał Pakulski, all look fake, as if the characters were dressed up. OK, they were, but a movie should make you believe in the created fantasy, shouldn't it? 1 hour 25 minutes into the movie you get 3 minutes of proper cinematography, a wonderful shot of deer springing over water, a quality special effect of ghost-children and a funny gag with loading the kids on the boat. Decent music can be heard twice, once in a dance scene which is awfully unchoreographed. Wojciech Mecwaldowski is perfect in the comic bit he acted. A few old chaps speak as if they were going to drop dead but only one of the characters dies. Above-water shots are fine. But the whole production looks like Polish children's movies of 40 years ago. Also the plot is silly and a few subplots create chaos. 

CZARNA OWCA (BLACK SHEEP)

Watchable. A young bloke making a living of dimwitted Youtube videos, his mother suddenly realising she's lesbian and both of the parents finding new relationships. Sounds disastrous? It is. I seriously considered walking out but after a while got involved into everyone's issues. Yes, issues, not really comedy material. It's flawed. An English teacher addressing a student 'Mr. Arek' is the smallest mistake. The mother's sudden coming out feels forced and her ease of finding a woman partner far-fetched. The same with the fat, unfit father having chances with the teacher. But most stupidly of all, why does the son, with the financial pressure and looming penalties for the breach of contract, against the girl's will, resign from his RTW? A futile attempt at a modern family comedy. 

COME AWAY

Watchable. No magic, bar a few fleeting moments of children's imagination in this gloomy family drama in which things go from bad to worse and even shockingly cruel. American-made, set in England, it lacks the British vibe. Angelina Jolie doesn't save the movie and Polish dubbing obviously doesn't help. On a deeper level it's a story about a reality so grim the only way out is to live in an imaginary world.

LUNATIC VR EXPERIENCE

Watchable. It's the Luna cinema interior altered by an artist, you can explore it as if in a different dimension superimposed on the real cinema with some augmented reality insertions which redefine the space through subjective associations - you follow the VR trail guided by the artist herself so everything is explained. An enjoyable experience.

PO ZLOTO (GOING FOR GOLD)

Watchable. Released right on the day of the opening of the Olympic Games, the documentary reminds us of Polish pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz whose gesture towards Russians made him famous for decades. The film gathers lots of archive materials, Władysław Kozakiewicz's comments, it charts his sports career from start to finish but you must be a big fan to watch it all patiently since it lacks major twists, mood swings, it's just an assembly of well-researched facts. At some point you see tears in his eyes - the memory of his first Olympic failure must be still vivid and painful to him. And that's about the only emotional moment.

Seen online, cinematic reception might differ.