Movie reviews

SCRIPT FIESTA

The awards gala was protracted, mostly by the piano pieces - all sounding the same - accompanying excerpts from old movies. They awarded Brodka's video clip and the full-length movie script of "Piosenki o miłości" ("Songs About Love") - I barely tolerated either as a viewer. A hired actor was reading the script of the gala as if it was to be fun. At least the final movie - an entry to the Cracow Film Festival - was short.

MOJE STARE (MY OLD GALS)

Watchable. A drama, though engaging, on elderly women reliving their youth. Fine, like I care.

MARTA GRALL

Walked out. Overtalked and with contrived dialogue. Poor translation into English and cinematography - I've seen better pictures shot with a mobile and I found a grammar mistake in the English subtitles more exciting than the movie. 

JADZIA

Watchable. A typical Polish drama. They barely shoot anything else in this country. This time about a small village community filled with hypocrisy. Again, poor cinematography and translation into English. Worst of all, the housekeeper looks too old (the actress was 46 at the time) to be able to get pregnant so the whole plot loses credibility.

PANEL: TRUDNY TEMAT: MIEDZY BOGIEM A PRAWDA

Mariusz Kuczewski, Łukasz Ronduda, Magdalena Łazarkiewicz, Maks Michorczyk, Tomasz Sekielski took part in the panel on shooting movies about the Church. 

"Jadzia" is directed by Maks Michorczyk. To be able to shoot in the church he told the vicar the film was going to be about a priest's housekeeper and how important the Church is in village life. He's writing a full-length movie on connection with the Church. "Jadzia" ?will be showed at the Venice Film Festival this year. The script took 2 weeks before the shooting, 2 weeks of the set-up, 3 days of the shooting. That was his yearly school film. 

Mariusz Kuczewski, the director of "Nie cudzołóż i nie kradnij" said that for viewers a bigger sacrilege were his references to "Pulp Fiction". He's the one who writes the whole series of movies "Listy do M." ("Letters to Santa") - I walked out  from some of the movies, just like from "Nie cudzołóż i nie kradnij". For the confession scene he put a confessional in a staircase. He's a philosopher by education. The question of his movie was: is there an absolute? The example of Smarzowski's success helps to convince producers to the topic. "Nie cudzołóż i nie kradnij" had 115 K viewers at the cinema, on Amazon Prime it was 3rd for 2 months, earned a lot. 

Sekielski talked about small town hypocrisy: They attend a holy mass and in a local shop or at Sunday lunch, over broth and a pork chop - which he likes having too, he later hears rumours on the priest's lovers. In "Zabawa w chowanego" ("Playing Hide And Seek") a victim is an organ player - no priest let the filming crew in, he used a Protestant church instead. Historic churches are maintained from the state budget. Sekielski praised "The Young Pope" - profound on the absolute and the condition of the Church 

Magdalena Łazarkiewicz's 2019 "Powrót" ("Back Home") was released at the same time as "Kler" ("Clergy"), more success abroad among Polonia at festivals in Chicago and Toronto, 2 audience awards.

Łukasz Ronduda, known for "Wszystkie nasze strachy" ("All Our Fears"), didn't bring up anything interesting in the panel. 

JANVARIS (JANUARY) 

Switched off. A budding cinematographer falls in love with a girl. In Latvia of January 1991. The wall of his room sees a poster of "Powiększenie" which is the Polish title for Antonioni's "Blow-up" - what is a Polish poster doing in a Latvian teenager's room? Anyway, it's all awfully slow-paced and ordinary. The drama mixes with mockumentary footage annoyingly. There's some political turmoil in the background but the mundane life takes so much space and time the plot seems never to get to the point. If there is one. Nothing kept me intrigued enough to wait and find out. One wonderfully composed shot of the couple in white swimming gear walking on the frozen see doesn't make up for the whole film..

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

BRATY (BROYS)

Walked out. It's cheap to the point of being black and white but that's not the problem. The problem is it's a typical Polish drama about a dysfunctional family and youngsters who spend time skateboarding, smoking, drinking, having sex, having some small verbal exchanges in foul language. How long can you watch that?

IO SONO L'ABISSO (I AM THE ABYSS)

Watchable. A crime drama by Donato Carrisi. Opens with a shocking scene and then the tension starts growing. While the action moves between protagonists and times in their lives, it remains sufficiently clear to follow the story. However gripping it is, resembling "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon" as well as plenty of those movies in which an outcast finds the culprit, it's flawed: you can't stand naked next to acid, protecting your airways is not enough, the acid vapours would burn your skin, also walking on crutches is not immediate, it takes weeks of practise, especially walking up the stairs. But the drama tackles also: cyberbullying, the cold in affluent families and their impunity, the class division. The bar music surrounds you in an early scene. The movie's smart and engaging, even if a bit disturbing and underinformed factually. It's best to sit close to the screen to catch all details in dimly lit scenes.

THE SON

Recommended. Hugh Jackman proves his versatility in this quiet, unhasty, psychological  family drama shot in NYC, the UK, France (Massif des Calanques). Star cast - Anthony Hopkins appears as his father. The movie tackles the role of the father in a child's upbringing, mental health issues among teenagers, how adults' choices affect children. It's tear-inducing at times but never mawkish, very matter-of-fact.