Movie reviews

CINEMAFORUM

7 INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS:

AUGUST SKY

Recommended. I was a bit late so can't comment on the beginning. The pregnant woman's unidentified concerns are well presented both by the actress and the circumstances. It all tones in: severely mentally troubled people in the church, fires raging in the country. The orange sky and the glow it casts on the city look amazing.

NIE MA SPOKOJU (THERE IS NO PEACE OF MIND) AND Q&A WITH KAROL ULMAN

Recommended. An atmospheric science fiction film with a fascinating concept of turning people into trees. A sterile-looking clinic, contract signing, an interview by a doctor all tone in.

The interviewer joked, "Mamy taką zasadę, że Q&A trwa dłużej niż film" ("We have a rule that a Q&A lasts longer than the film."). The director wanted the perspective as if the trees watched them too. It was a school film - the actor found it funny to be offered 500 zl per day. The film was shot in Park Skaryszewski and Polin in Warsaw. At the time of the event, Karol Ulman's next film "Duchy" was in pre-production.

CHAPERONE

Recommended. Mysterious.

ورشة (WARSHA)

Recommended. Worth seeing for breathtaking acrobatics and local customs at work.

LE CENSEUR DES REVES (CENSOR OF DREAMS)

Watchable. Looks a bit amateurish. I expected it to be more high-tech.

غداََ يأتي الحبّ (TRUMPETS IN THE SKY)

Watchable. This ethnographic short film shows one day which starts with daily work and ends at dawn on the next day. Wedding reception dancers are wonderfully shot.

PIEKNA LAKA KWIETNA (A BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWER MEADOW) AND Q&A WITH CREATORS

Recommended again. To catch more detail. And for the jokes, e.g.:"Kto to panu tak spartolił?" "No chyba pan." ("Who botched it like that?" "Must have been you."). Eminently rewatchable.

The director discussed her interests. She likes US indie films, which are different from European, arthouse, she sees there's a trend in films about neurotics. The cinematography is sharp in order to emphasize the mayhem. The film has a modern look but she likes tape - used for commercials and music clips in Poland. They couldn't meet in the pandemic so wrote on the phone. They started with the protagonist - he drove the story. She often feels like the protagonist, though he's based on her dad. The script was written fast. No treatment, no back story. An active protagonist here and now. They would just write scene 1 and continue. The action goes fast and the actor's only here and there the meadow stops him and adds depth. The backpacker is the only free person in the film - no car. Actor Andrzej Kłak suffers from leucoderma, "bo cholerycy mają" ("because hotheads have it"). He's charismatic. They were writing a full-length film, with a similar hero, original, about family.

5 AMERICAN SHORT FILMS:

HOUSE COMES WITH A BIRD

Watchable. Stylish. Little meaning behind it. 

WORK

Watchable. About lesbians lapdancing for men. Doesn't express much, some food for thought rather.

FUCK'EM RIGHT BACK

Watchable. A queer flick about drugs which are legal in Baltimore - weird but fun, especially their nails, hair, costumes. 

MY SUMMER VACATION

Watchable. An interesting idea but in the form of a child play.

TRIGGERED AND Q&A WITH ACTRESS/DIRECTOR TARA WESTWOOD

Watchable. Quite static and based on conversation but the idea is great: "we'll kill your child, Senator." Shouldn't the people who lost their children to gun violence exact revenge on pro-gun politicians?

 

Tara Westwood's directorial debut was a play before it became a film. Shew grew up at a farm in Canada where guns were present. Now that she's living in NYC she's shocked by how much gun violence there is. Canadians are happier: healthcare, marriage for everyone, everyone can get help. In the US, people don't get their basic needs met. On FB marketplace people often wanted to barter guns for the car the producer tried to sell. Not computer games - they have them too so they are not to blame. "There's a mass shooting in America every single day" where 'mass' means 4 people wounded. So people numb themselves. Confiscating guns like in Australia is not a concept in America. The US has the 2nd Amendment so people would feel disempowered, as if their rights were taken away. Most states carry no register of guns. 

PRZYTUL MNIE, POSZUKIWACZE MIODU (HUG ME - THE MOVIE) AND Q&A WITH CREATORS

Normally the production of a cartoon takes 8-10, even 15 years, this one was made in 4. 100-150 people worked on it. It will be distributed at least in France and China. The series from Finland was in 30 countries, from Finland to Mexico. 

Recommended. Perfect in all respects. The preceding Christmas episode of the series, scripted by Bartosz Wierzbięta, is touching and tells both the truth and the fairy tale regarding the existence of Santa Claus. Smart. The movie itself is even better. The storyline's consistent, engaging for children and adults alike. The conversations are so life-like the kid sitting next to me kept agreeing aloud. The tale is more than suitable for 4-year-olds - it's pedagogically just spot on. The bears look and sound cute - Iwo Rajski as the little 'un is amazing. A girl voices the English version. Their adventures and the animals they meet on the way vary but are all warm-hearted and well-meaning. So are the people. The whole tale is humorous. The backgrounds are pleasant and charming. The two songs in Polish are balmy. You just want to cuddle everyone. A sweet movie about a trip to find honey.