Movie reviews

WYSZYNSKI - ZEMSTA CZY PRZEBACZENIE (WYSZYNSKI - REVENGE OR FORGIVENESS)

Recommended. What struck me first was top-notch sound, surrounding at times, next evocative visual effects, e.g. when soldiers walking through a meadow dissipate into thin air or when ashes fall down. The action keeps you in suspense but provides touching moments too. Music keeps up. Wyszyński's final stride is hero-like but totally in line with the story. The note of events of 20 years later explains how the wartime experiences shaped the cardinal and is a perfect ending. 

WSZYSTKIE NASZE STRACHY (FEARS)

Watchable. Only the grandma character is fun. All other conversations are blabber, the story conveys moral preaching, the film is protracted and awfully spiritual. Much depends on Dawid Ogrodnik to keep us interested by successfully depicting the protagonist's growing inner turmoil. The actor fails miserably. The story's based on actual events and the original protagonists are pictured at the end. 

PLANETA SINGLI. 8 HISTORII

EP. 1: ZJAZD ABSOLWENTOW

Watchable. Too slow at first, the school reunion finally picks up the tempo but the ending is cheesy and predictable. Piotr Witkowski's part as the woman's date stands out. The party is frequented by a variety of characters, a memorable one is a guy who preys on every woman using the same chat-up line.

EP. 7: WLADEK I HALINA

Watchable. Less predictable, with less common in the genre elderly protagonists but with a sad subplot of a lethal disease - really, Polish people can ruin the best of fun.

HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

MULLAH'S DAUGHTER

Watchable. The documentary looks like a chaotic mixture of home videos portraying a happy family and good living in a modern, well-equipped house with a garden offering shadow on hot days. The mullah's family is not as strict as I expected. A wonderful, though very brief song is played over the end credits. 

BO WE MNIE JEST SEKS (AUTUMN GIRL)

Recommended. CGIs are easy to spot but they create fairy-tale Warsaw of the 60s: sleek, colourful, undistinguishable from Western capitals, bar occasional jokes, e.g. a large poster with ambiguous slogan: "Partia słucha obywateli" ("The party listens to citizens"). Maria Dębska excels in the provocative role of Kalina Jędrusik. But also Bartłomiej Kotschedoff as her director and all other actors perform their parts alluringly and convincingly. Astute dialogues, wonderful characters, professionally choreographed (by Jakub Lewandowski) dance scenes sell the fable smoothly. Some bits are hilarious, e.g.: "A co ty tu robisz o tej porze?" "Telefon mi się zepsuł, więc przyszedłem porozmawiać ze Stasiem." ("And what are you doing here at this hour?" "My phone broke down so I've come to talk to Staś.") Unusually for Polish films, there's a post-credit.

HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

LEKCJA MILOSCI (LESSONS OF LOVE)

Recommended. Jolanta Janus is always immaculately dressed, made up, with her hair done. Every scene with her is delightful. She believes women should be feminine to attract men. She surely does, easier than her daughters. Unbelievable she's a long-term victim od domestic abuse by her violent husband. The story's built out of the contrast between her abusive husband and her new, gentle and loving partner. 

The screenings were so smartly scheduled that there was always enough time to get to each film, regardless of the cinema. And the cinemas were within a short metro ride from one another. The lack of a printed schedule or catalogue was a hindrance. But at least the extremely nice and helpful staff would let me read the synopses and view trailers on their laptop. I noticed the synopses by some guy from Filmweb sometimes skipped the core topics of the films - gender bias again? Spending so much time at the cinema I was apprehensive in regards to the risk of Covid infection. Here the core team proved to follow the health safety guidelines religiously, everyone in the customer service wore a mask talking to people and during the screenings. Their collaborators, like a presenter or the interpreter ignored the rules though. As you approached the festival desk at Kinoteka you could smell a fragrant vaporizer - a fabulous accent and unique to this enterprise. Altogether, mostly owing to the awesome film selection, but also to the hospitality of the staff, it was a wonderful experience.