Movie reviews

DIANA. THE PRINCESS

Recommended. I was sobbing throughout this documentary about Princess Diana - it was so moving: from a fairy-tale wedding to her premature demise all through media footage - and there's been plenty. Like on no other royal. The resulting biopic is gripping. And sad. Even with Prince Charles' witty speeches and responses. Diana was in the public gaze all the time so learnt how to live with it. On the other hand, it must have made it easy for Kristen Stewart to impersonate her accurately in "Spencer" : her coy smile while looking to the sides, biting her lip. Prince Charles - at the time of the release still the prospective king is seen as a deceitful, unfaithful husband, absent from family life, in love of his outdoor pastimes like polo or hunting. Journalists: often sympathetic but sometimes hateful, just like common people. Still, she kept most on her side. In spite of her own illicit affair. The music at the finale stays in your head.

KINO DZIECI (KIDS KINO)

Kino Dzieci Lab developed "Tarapaty" ("Double Trouble") and "Detektyw Bruno" ("Detective Bruno") - the latter didn't fare well in the box office which doesn't surprise me. But the script of "Detektyw Bruno 2" is being written now. "LasseMajas Detektivbyrå" ("The Whodunit Detective Agency") book series is very popular in Poland and the latest movie based on it opened the festival. 159 films in total were screened. Lots came from Europe but some also from Taiwan, Japan, India and a new production from South Korea. Classics of the festival are shown over and over again because because of 9 years of the festival, there's new young audience every year. 3 films had adults' meetings: "Young Plato", one about girls' chances and one on Instagram influences - the protagonist is a girl talking about the business world and addicted viewers. There were 7 free screenings in Ukrainian. Guided tours of the Muranów cinema and nature walks constituted extra events. Only 119 films out of the 159 were online, because of piracy many creators don't allow online screenings shortly after the release. Recorded Q&As, games were popular over the last 2 years. As many as 8 cinemas in Warsaw participated - 5 of them in local cultural centres. Those available online too were clearly marked in the paper and online program.

RECLAIMING AMY

Watchable. It doesn't change the outlook from "Amy" claiming that her love for a wrong guy killed her, yet it's barely mentioned. In this new documentary basically her parents and closest girlfriends disclaim any responsibility for her death, denying neglect. As you see her childhood pictures - she was an ugly child - hear of her teenage exploits and later addictions, you realize she was nervous when sober and only alcohol would offer her relief, a mood shift, some joy. No person is blamed, she's said to have had some mental issues. 

Seen courtesy of Canal +.

LENA  AND SNOWBALL

Recommended. A fictitious tale set and shot in Fitzgerald, Georgia. While both the adult criminals and the school bullies are stereotypical, the plot's so miraculous, it can be treated as a fairy tale for younger teenagers. Lovely, reasonable and talented girl Lena, her adorable dog Smitty, the title little white lion Snowball, friend-in-need Jake, tolerant dad are delightful. And the baddies, however nasty they all are, get their comeuppance. Both types of roles are convincingly acted. The film simply transports you to the period in your life when you believed in justice and happy endings. The epilogue is told together with the brief end credits. 

ドラゴンボー超スーパースーパーヒーロー (DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO)

Watchable. This feature-length anime is perfectly satisfactory visually: it retains the manga style, at the same time the pictures change at a good pace and a few animation styles are used, changing smoothly and frequently enough. The plot is fine to some extent. The created world offers a few nice touches, e,g. a car hovering above the road or a dome protecting from rain. The storyline itself is simple but overcomplicated by an excessive number of characters, both historic ones listed in the opening summary of preceding developments and contemporary ones appearing in the film. Repeated fights start dragging at some point. There's a post-credit referring to a game played in the middle of the movie.

BEAST

Recommended. This American adventure-cum-horror set in South Africa chilled me to the bone. The story of a vengeful lion, whose pride was killed by poachers, is realistic. Venda is a real Bantu-family language used in the country, zoological or medical facts make sense. Yet the movie uses horror tropes: the ghost of the deceased wife, close-ups of the lion's attacks, his ominous presence in the dark, the stench in the poacher's shelter, omens like dead bodies and the very opening. Gripping. And the story as well as the way it's told - combing the two genres - like nothing I've seen before. The subtitles are very well translated into Polish by Agata Deka.

The movie has a poster indicating some class B monster flick. I had qualms about going to the movie in the first place.