Movie reviews

З УКРАЇНИ ДО ГОЛЛІВУДУ (FROM UKRAINE TO HOLLYWOOD)

Recommended. This Ukrainian documentary charts the intertwined histories of Hollywood and Ukrainian cinema highlighting their achievements coming from joint efforts. They're all from rags to riches stories and range form producers, through actors, their teachers and technical specialists, one of who developed transparency to show Predator visible and invisible simultaneously. Others co-created e.g. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Mayer was Ukrainian. Also many actors are mistakenly thought to be Russian, e.g. Olga Kurylenko. Mila Kunis is Ukrainian as well. The whole picture, touching at times, is a Hollywood dream come true for immigrants. Anything is possible in the movie business. 

LASSEMAJAS DETEKTIVBYRA - SKORPIONENS GATA (JERRYMAYA'S DETECTIVE AGENCY - THE RIDDLE OF THE SCORPION)

Recommended. Engaging since you can't tell who the perpetrator is, with red herrings and twists of action. Also a humorous look at the policeman in love - both he and his crush are in their 50s which is just sweet. Altogether a feelgood children's crime tale. 

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

COCAINE BEAR

Watchable. It's expectedly crazy but quite gory - the trailer didn't indicate that. I did laugh out loud a handful of types, e.g. when the bear high on cocaine passed out squashing a guy underneath. But even the hilarious bits constitute quite black humour. Bodies are ripped apart, a ranger on a stretcher falls out of the ambulance as the bear gets in, a guy's intestines are munched by bear cubs while he's alive - picture that. Exuberant 80s pop songs and fashion mix with our contemporary brutality. The end credits are intertwined with scenes ending the movie. 

20TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL

The 20th edition of the festival took place in 8 cities between 12-21 May and between 23 May-4 June online. Industry representatives abroad tend to disbelieve it's possible to hold the event in so many places. For the 18th time Millennium Bank co-operated with the festival, Visa and Canal + Online co-financed it, the City of Warsaw increased their funding and has ensured it for the next 3 years. As organizers said, the Main Competition featured 12 documentaries by renowned directors and by debutants. The films included: "Ми не згаснемо" ("We Will Not Fade Away") by a Ukrainian woman who fought in the war, "Pianoforte" about 5 teenagers taking part in the Chopin competition where 12 out of 160 get to the final round, "Innocence" about the pro-war narration in Israel and compulsory army service, French "Les Gardiennes de la planète" ("Whale Nation") about whales' social traditions - the French title means "The Guardians of Our Planet", "Savvusanna sõsarad" "Smoke Sauna Sisterhood") by a director awarded in Sundance, "Theatre of Violence" on a former child soldier now accused at the Hague Tribunal, where Ugandan attitudes were confronted with us-whites/post-colonialists judging him, "Under the Sky of Damascus" on 4 Syrian women putting on a performance about violence against women in the Syrian society. The films were directed by 8 men and 8 women, 3 were Polish. Other Polish films included "Fantastyczny Matt Parey" ("Fantastic Matt Parey") by Bartosz Paduch who earlier made "Skandal. Ewenement Molesty" ("Scandal") and "Solaris Mon Amour" by Kuba Mikurda. A large-scale VR section, with 4 360-degree films and some where we would become a protagonist, offered e.g. Norman Leto's "Pilot 9/11" which put you into the planes that crashed on 9/11. There were 8 new festival sections. The 20th anniversary was commemorated by 20 documentaries from earlier editions: 10 at the cinemas and 10 online. Also masters returned with new films, e.g. Erik Gandini with "After Work" about a world where we don't work any more. The industry section included 3 pitchings. Festival guests were e.g. the directors of ""Savvusanna sõsarad" ("Smoke Sauna Sisterhood") and of "Under the Sky of Damascus". Additionally there was an event on how to talk to the people of views contrary to ours. 

SAVVUSANNA SOSARAD (SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD)

Watchable. The opening and closing sound surrounds you. Visually, it opens with a revolting breastfeeding scene. Next, 5 naked women discuss all sorts of women's life experiences for 1,5 hours. The first half is trite - probably every woman in the world has been through that. Next the discussed issues become more emotionally charged, like giving stillbirth and, finally, an account of a rape followed by sexual harassment by "rescuers" and the mother's incredulity. Harrowing. 

65

Watchable. The set up and the core idea is fine but an ill child, an orphan and constant fighting off dinosaurs, in one scene a dino looking through a window into the vessel the protagonists are in like in the cult scene from "Jurassic Park", are vexingly trite. Quality music partly makes up for these shortcomings. I don't know which is weirder: that nowadays it's easier to get real-looking dinosaurs than an interesting plot, or that the movie about prehistoric dinosaur chases ends in a disclaimer stating that any similarity to persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.