Movie reviews

KRYPTONIM: POLSKA (CODE WORLD POLAND)

Watchable. A tragicomedy inspired by several true, widely discussed in Poland, events. Some gags are brilliant, e.g. "Niech spoczywa w pokoju" ("Let him rest in the room" instead of "w spokoju" meaning "in peace") or when the priest says: "Ręce do góry" ("Hands up!") and they perform the Roman salute. The protagonist faking to be a rightist extremist while in reality being liberal doesn't convince. Music is great when they stomp. Polish songs, from music banks, are a minus. "Dzień gorącego lata" is the only actually good one. But there is suspense and little twists of action. Tear-jerking moments unfortunately too. 

ZOLZA

Watchable. Scripted by and based on Ilona Łepkowska's book "Idealna rodzina". Małgorzata Kożuchowska produced the movie, apart from playing the leading role. The film has been translated into English by a Pole and a native. It depicts a standard go-getting businesswoman too busy to mind her offspring and too PR-oriented to actually care about anyone else. When her PA says she'll buy food for stray cats, the bitch responds: "A, to już za swoje" ("Ah, that'll be on you"). The lines are snappy but her behaviour is too scary to amuse. At least till she's driven into a mental hospital. Generally the plot follows the pattern: first the bitch image is being built, next, predictably, the image melts down with her warm heart. Małgorzata Kożuchowska physically resembles Ilona Łepkowska.

Funny it's written and meant to be semi-autobiographical by the woman who, when I got upset by a noisy baby in a meeting, got involved: "Dzieci są częścią naszego świata." ("Children are part of our world.")

POLISH OSCAR CANDIDATE

Tadeusz Łysiak previously nominated for "Sukienka" ("The Dress") was in the selection committee. "Io" ("Eo") was chosen unanimously since it's about people's cruelty to animals and people and it represents European values. The movie's been sold to 20 countries. It has a good distributor in the US, the one responsible for "Drive My Car" last year. The selection makes sense also in the wake of its success in Cannes. Skolimowski was passing by and was called from the PISF (Polish Film Institute) balcony to hear the news. The director says "the film is different than any of his movies before" because he and Ewa (Puszczyńska - the producer) care about animals. PISF had provided the main funding. There were Covid cases in the crew while shooting so it wasn't easy. 

WROBIONY (TITANIUM WHITE)

 

Watchable. At the beginning, for a longer time, I couldn't put the pieces together, you just don't know who is who and why days and times are given - in fact I'd need to see the whole thing again to find out if the events were presented in a chronological order. The thriller is engaging after a while, when you meet the Polish scholar and follow his adventure consistently. Some characters, especially Sylvia appear and disappear for no logical reason. Where the film comes unstuck is editing (by Jarosław Kamiński) The last scene is highly ambiguous. Is that an accidental killing by the protagonist? Purposeful of the protagonist? Or his analysis of the painting?

FESTIWAL POLSKICH FILMOW FABULARNYCH (POLISH FILM FESTIVAL IN GDYNIA)

The 47th festival ran from 12 to 17 September 2022. There were more films in the main competition because otherwise some would be presented in international festivals but not theirs. This time the festival took place in Gdynia only, the number of screens rose from 8 to 13, some events were still online so as not to cut off the majority which had chosen the online version twice before. 30 short films were in the competition, including "Followers. Odpalaj lajwa" ("Followers. Live Shooting") and "Victoria", out of 130 submitted. They formed 6 longer sets divided into film schools, Studio Munka (Munk Studio) and independent ones. Actress Maria Dębska was in the jury. All the 7 PISF (Polish Film Institute) micro-budget films that were submitted got in - that jury included Allan Starski. 20 movies appeared in the main competition, including "Cicha Ziemia" ("Silent Land"), Głupcy" ("Fools"), "Infinite Storm", "Io" ("Eo"), "Silent Twins", "Orlęta. Grodno '39" ("Orleta") and "Orzeł. Ostatni patrol" ("Below the Surface") which opened the festival. The 8-people jury consisted of representatives of a wide range of film professions - all the other juries were formed similarly. Niebyły Festiwal (Missing Polish Film Festival) comprised of films from 1882-83, when the festival hadn't taken place, with a competition with a brick to win. 5 children's films from recent years were also in a competition. Polonica (co-productions) comprised of 6 films, including "Носоріг" ("Rhino") and "After Blue" with a surprise role of Agata Buzek. "Io" ("Eo") had an audio-descriptive screening. The Industry section included a panel on the job market which is self-regulatory, a conference on sustainability being very green washing, a script debuts panel, podcasts on why the sound "źle słychać" ("is poorly heard") - I have to say I didn't manage to find it on the festival website. A survey on 'professional film festival participant' was conducted. For the first time Electrolux funded the greenest production award. You could also plant a tree with the festival paying 9,99 zł each online.

DRAGON GIRL

Watchable. This Christmas story returned to cinemas in the summer. In Poland it's only dubbed in Polish. The story's culturally versatile. The dragon looks real and makes realistic and pleasantly animal-like sounds. The tale is based on modern culture where YouTube likes matter more than relationships with people, refugees, including minors, face deportation and animals are deemed dangerous. It's predictable and childishly naive but the pet dragon is so cute it's heart-warming.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.