ZIELONA GRANICA (THE GREEN BORDER)

The movie's based on real stories and well researched, nearly documentary, as a representative of Granica (Border) - the organisation rescuing refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border - says.

Recommended. At first I wondered why the movie had been shot in low-contrast black and white. Later I realised it made people's colour irrelevant, simply everyone looked the same. A few minutes in the movie it already becomes brutal. Then it repeatedly shocks you with how callous, greedy or malicious humans can be. It's so harrowing I cried most of the time. It's gripping of course and hard-hitting politically - Maciej Stuhr is wonderful in his episodic role. As for the social context, the characters represent a full scope of attitudes. The heavy content is broken up with occasional humour e.g.: "Moje libido spadło do -1. Spytaj Anki." ("My libido has dropped to -1. Ask Anka.") or "To wygląda jakbyś to jedzenie zatruła." ("It looks as if you had poisoned the food.") The whole thing is powerful nevertheless.

LA PETITE BANDE (THE LITTLE GANG)

Watchable. A group of pupils fight a powerful factory contaminating their local river but their scheme gets out of hand. The comedy is based on slapstick, children's understanding of the world and the relationship between them. It's hard not to laugh at the face a boy makes after denying as if the girl caused him pain removing a thorn but most is just moderately amusing. The scene of vomiting is over the top. But all in all, the flick's good fun for all ages.

MINUTA CISZY (A MINUTE OF SILENCE) EP. 6

Recommended. A mixture of emotions in the opening: first humour, then menace, then what seems a sudden truce between the two undertakers. Not a minute later you realise it's a war. Gripping. The sabotage is brilliant. A series of dramatic turns of action follows. The season ends with an evocative scene with coffins - quite tongue-in-cheek. Superb. And with sequel potential. 

Seen courtesy of Canal +.

WILK S. 1 EP. 1

Watchable. Like every platform viewer knows, teenagers have sex, smoke weed and party. It opens with a wolf running past a car parking in a wood so that a couple get laid. Everyone watches news on some riots. No plot, no justification for the background apparently global situation. Empty, silly, simplistic. It looks like made by pothead youngsters. I'm glad the episode took less than 10 minutes.

This episode is available free of charge on Canal+ online.

HER DOCS FORUM

THE HEARING

Recommended. The documentary reenacts 4 hearings of asylum seekers in Switzerland with them and actual officers participating. A smart move is reversing the roles at some point. Now the decision-makers have to explain themselves. They admit it's impossible to be unerring but they seem sympathetic and considerate. So it comes as a shock that none of the applicants was accepted. All appealed and the precise outcome remains unknown. Engaging and thought-provoking.

Reviewed from the organizers' screener, cinematic reception might differ.

HER DOCS FORUM

MIDWIVES 

Watchable. The pregnant woman's belly at childbirth looks disgusting, as does the infant being born - I'm lucky to be watching the documentary on a small screen. Stunning aerial shots of Myanmar, with temples on mountain tops are a welcome variety in the pictures. The documentary's not that much about midwifery, as it is about daily lives of the Muslim minority in Myanmar: shabby housing, romantic Bollywood-like songs in the Rakhine movies they watch in their own language, their dreams: to see a city, to be single. Politics, with systemic discrimination, appears in the background, mainly through pejorative name-calling and in what the protagonists say, little is shown in the footage of political activists, all violence is only mentioned verbally so it doesn't affect the viewer much, especially one familiar with the issue. 

Reviewed from the organizers' screener, cinematic reception might differ.

TESCIOWIE 2 (THE IN-LAWS 2)

Watchable. Opens with a wonderful scene, just perfect in this comedy - yes, part 2 is finally comical, unlike dramatic part 1. Eryk Kulm jr joins the cast, with a great result - a perfect match for Maja Ostaszewska and superb on his own. It's a summer holiday flick and of course it ridicules lots of Polish vices and tourists' behaviours, with a number of hilarious scenes, e.g. when the hotel porter is waiting after he's brought the luggage and the couple are anxious: "Why isn't he leaving? Is he going to live with us?", and snappy lines in all the arguments. I genuinely had fun for a large part. Costumes are aptly selected and reflect the protagonists' personalities perfectly. While the sound is ordinary, at some point the use of the rear loudspeakers in the screening room added the spatial effect. Disco polo music was a bit annoying but may have reflected the Polish mass taste. The emotional outburst at the finale is a bit out of place, much exaggerated, overly dramatic and simply doesn't match the comedy. But a sequel is coming. Third time lucky?

WLASNYMI SLOWAMI - FESTIWAL FILMOWY (IN OUR OWN WORDS)

Y SWN

Watchable. The Welsh flick goes to great lengths to make this simple story, filled with red tape, dynamic and engaging. But does so adding fast-paced music during dialogue which sounds weird. Still, a piece of political history to be learnt and with a top re-enaction of 1979-80. The pictures are dark all the time and the music comes from the right front speaker only, not sure if it's the fault of the copy or of the cinema.

HAYTARMA (2013)

Recommended. First you get to feel the joy, exuberance, amicability of the Crimean Tatar community. Then comes a shock. The Tatars who fought in the Great Patriotic War, some of who were recognised as USSR heroes, are faced with Stalin-ordered deportation. They're given 15 minutes to pack "food for two days, 5 kg clothes maximum, nothing valuable". In result 46% of the nation died of hunger. A deeply moving story. Akhtem Seitablayev stands out among the cast which is superb all around.

ITU NINU

Watchable. I appreciate the movie tackling climate change, migrant control, air quality - all vital issues. I loved the dystopian joke: "corner of Orwell Street and Huxley Crescent". This science fiction drama shot in and around Edinburgh is an atmospheric, enchanting, poetic love story. But it gets the science fiction layer all wrong. It depicts 2084 as devoid of people which makes no sense: the world is already overpopulated now, the number of over 8 billion humans is constantly growing, additionally the film talks about mass migration so the background should be packed with people, instead only 3 persons appear with not even human noise out there. The protagonist is valued for bringing rare seeds, while in real life virtually all countries in the world have their own seed banks, both domestic and extraterritorial, there's also a world seed bank in Svalbard so no individual needs to preserve them in dubious conditions. In the film you're repeatedly informed of insufficient oxygen but in the final shot you see greenery just outside the city, where the couple get apparently with no vehicle so that doesn't sound plausible either.

That was the world premiere of the movie by

NII NU'U: SACRED SKIN

Watchable. I got to the screening 7 minutes late so can't comment on the opening. As for the rest of this documentary, you learn a bit about how to read the Mixtec codices and of traditions like weddings or the carnival. Interestingly it's women who painted the pictograms and created the codices in the past. Also nowadays mostly women learnt Mixtec and completed the language courses. The brass bands were unbearable to me and the cinema played the film awfully loud.

Mixtec is not taught at school. The director learnt it from his monolingual grandparents, he had to learn the language to be able to communicate with them.

AINU: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF JAPAN

Watchable. The documentary teaches you a bit about the Ainu's language and culture, mostly about their material culture and ceremonies. Still, it's not as informative as it could be. I'm still not sure of the language - it it oral only or does it have a script? Or if it uses Japanese script, which one? Also, why was the woman unable to go to hospital in childhood?

MINUTA CISZY (A MINUTE OF SILENCE) EP. 5

Recommended. Cinematography stands out, especially starting some walking sequences with showing the moving feet or the bit with the hems of the cassocks. This episode brings another big twist of action, surprising but plausible at the same time. And a menacing ending.

Seen courtesy of Canal +. 

A HAUNTING IN VENICE

Watchable. Based on Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party" but with the action moved to Venice, Italy and events largely changed. Still it's a gripping whodunit. This vision is very dark, grim - unlike past Christie's adaptations. The sound recorded in Atmos means even in an ordinary screening room the girl's voice surrounds you. Wonderfully shot Venice opens and closes the movie. The largest, middle part is the crime intrigue. While it keeps you glued to the screen, philosophical comments to the situation are just vexing. As for such a fright-ridden night, the movie could be more dynamic. The last Poirot scene is delightfully amusing. 

LIMBO

Indigenous Australian Ivan Sen produced, wrote, directed, cut and basically made the movie. 

Watchable. Slow but steady pace, little sound other than the radio, the church or conversations. A crime is being reviewed after 20 years. But that's just a pretext to look at the interracial relations now and in the past. It's black and white which is apt, taken that matters of colour are an issue constantly. Also Australian outback looks outlandish in this high contrast black and white, especially the arid, Moon-like landscape shot from above.

ZMIJOWISKO S. 1 EP. 1

Watchable. The set-up is similar to the first season of "Belfer" ("The Teacher"): someone arrives into a small town to investigate a crime that took place a year earlier. Here it's the father (fantastic Paweł Domagała in the role) looking for his missing daughter, The locals are so hostile it's hilarious. But then mixing places and times, all in one episode, makes it hard to follow. Most protagonists, whether adult or teenage, swear a lot so it's hard to like them. But you get intrigued by what happened and who played what role in the girl's disappearance. Catchy it is. 

This episode is available free of charge on Canal+ online.

RIGET EXODUS (THE KINGDOM: EXODUS) EP. 3

Watchable. In the pre-credit opening the hospital cabling looks like blood arteries. The title, as always, drips with blood. The supernatural to rational ratio appears to be growing in this episode. The manipulative persecution of Swede Halfmer by the Danes becomes disturbing. The gags about nations extend to the Chinese. References to the original serial aren't always clear. The whole plot gets more absurd. 

 

RIGET EXODUS (THE KINGDOM: EXODUS) EP. 4

Watchable. Starts with a bloody open giant heart surgery. The rest is in a lighter tone, a welcome respite after heavy ep. 3. Some jokes refer to the hospital as the filming location. 

RIGET EXODUS (THE KINGDOM: EXODUS) EP. 5

Recommended. Great opening. Gripping and all finally makes sense, including the supernatural layer.

Mikael Persbrandt (truly Swedish) as Halfstrom is magnificent throughout the whole serial. The music theme is fantastic too.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM

Watchable. Another movie, this time animated, about teenage body changes and growing up pains transmuted into a superhero flick. Seth Rogen voices Punk and is also involved in the production and in the screenplay which gives you the idea of what level of entertainment you can expect. Ice Cube voices Superfly, Jackie Chan does Splinter. Jackie Chan or Ice Cube's voices can't be heard in the Polish dubbing ruling the cinemas in Poland. On the other hand, you get great dialogue in Polish owing to Zuzanna Chojecka's translation. Kung fu films and music insertions are fun but the whole rest is 90s-style animation and hip-hop, it's grim, dark, unpleasant, ugly. Atmos-recorded music and sound effects surround you. The mid-credit announces a sequel.

FESTIWAL POLSKICH FILMOW FABULARNYCH GDYNIA 2023 (GDYNIA FILM FESTIVAL 2023)

Viewer numbers of the festival dropped to 52K at cinemas last year from 72K 3 years earlier but 150K watched online.

This year's festival starts on 18th September. There'll be 25 shorts in competition: from film schools, independent ones, from Studio Munka's 30-minute program. The microbudget competition has no selection - all 4 movies got in. 16 movies will be in the main competition. The jury comprises of representatives each of a different film profession, e.g. a costume designer, a producer, a cinematographer etc. 

Set decor designer Allan Starski's masterclass will be conducted by Paweł Edelman. The masterclass will include, among others, Starski's co-operation with cinematographer Janusz Kamiński - Steven Spielberg's regular collaborator - on "Schindler's List". The designer's exhibition will take place too. He'll present his and others' movies which he sees important in regards to set decor, e.g. "Oliver Twist", "The Pianist", "Hannibal" - large decors where he's present, the process of setting them up. Andrzej Wajda "was always his guru", as Allan Starski says. He recommends "Popiół i diament" ("Ashes and Diamonds") where top cinematography plays well with the decor. 

Lots of space is going to be devoted to other movies from decades ago, jubilees. 

International co-operation section Polonica will present "Delegation", "Disco Boy", "Norwegian Dream".

Krakow Film Festival and Docs Against Gravity co-operate on the documentary section. All 3 films are created by women and are devoted to female artists. 

Gdynia Dzieciom (Gdynia for Children) will focus on adaptations. 

Film school students will prepare nightly chronicles to provide light respite after the heavy main competition movies.

Gdynia Industry will focus on domestic distribution, international sales in Europe, obtaining funding from Eurimages, on how to debut, how to use AI wisely, royalties, as well as consultations with PISF (Polish Film Institute) directors and consultations on copyright.

No print. The festival is going to be green: bidons, bags, electric buses, bike stations, tickets on the phone (from my own experience it means A4-size printing for people without smartphones and the digital carbon footprint may be larger than printing those little pieces of paper), eco-coffee, vegan soup in edible packaging, planting 500 trees. Electrolux will hand in an award for the greenest production.

THE SKELETON'S COMPASS

Recommended. Polish cinemas show it only in Polish dubbing but, if you speak the language,  Bartek Fukiet has translated the movie and Janusz Chabior voices Jedidiah so you're in for a treat. This family adventure movie is extraordinary: time travel, Cheyenne lands and fun: "So who have we buried?" Very pleasant on the whole.

DRII WINTER (A PIECE OF SKY)

Watchable. A slow movie, where prolonged shots match the peace of the rural environment, in a peculiar form: with a choir standing in the mountains and singing from time to time - different than Bollywood being shot there in one scene. The life in the hamlet is primitive, with men pissing anywhere, much like their livestock. The protagonist is no different in that respect, yet he's a man of higher than average sensitivity. The plot's relatively simple and steady. About half-way through comes a major shock. Just for a while. But it alters the direction of the story. The meaning behind it all appears to lie in the marriage vows: "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part". Disconcerting and soothing at the same time.

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

BLUE BEETLE

Watchable. I had to watch it dubbed in Polish, the subtitled version disappeared from the cinema early. The Polish dialogues sound natural but the voicing exaggerated. The movie's yet another production where teenage body changes and growing strength from ordinary pains of growing up are transmuted into the superhero genre. The formulaic superhero flick aimed at teenagers with obligatory gadgetry, great CGIs and too many fights is enacted with great gusto owing to the endearing family characters. All-Hispanic electronic music dominates the wonderful soundtrack which gives the movie an 80s feel. It's surrounding even though recorded in ordinary Dolby. What's modern and unique in the superhero genre are the Central American undertones, not only in regards to immigration but also, with the war-like visuals of the corporate choppers approaching the Reyes family house, Nana's skills and the sequence of Carapax's memories reminding you of Central American revolutions, wars and the US involvement - brief but tear-jerking. The mid-credit implies a sequel - I'm looking forward to it, the characters are amiable. The post-credit is a cartoon with the Chapulín.

BELFER III (THE TEACHER III) EP. 1,2 

Recommended. You don't need to have seen the first two seasons - even though the first has been available on Canal + online free of charge all summer. Apart from the lead protagonist, only one character from those remains in the third season. The teacher returns to his hometown - Ustka stands in for Międzymorze. Wonderful cinematography, music by Fisz Emade, but most of all all actors, young and old, and the story glue you to the screen. It's not hard to get hooked on "Belfer". There are twists and turns - infrequent but gripping and each episode ends with an obligatory cliffhanger.  

STRAYS

Watchable. It's a crazy story in which animal rights are treated with a large dose of levity but still all the issues ring painfully true. It's gross, gets many dog behaviours completely wrong but is touching and true about humans - that's what it gets right. Big shots like Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher voice the dogs. Dennis Quaid makes a cameo as himself. There are some hilarious gags, e.g.: "Checking on the clipboard, ah... we also couldn't retouch your penis." They ridicule dogs crossing the front paws unnaturally for pictures - something I remember also seeing in the recent flicks like "O psie, który jeździł koleją" ("Lampo. The Travelling Dog") or "Lassie - ein neues Abenteuer" ("Lassie - a new Adventure"). Some music's great. Still, it's often a tear jerker due to the sad issues tackled. Surprisingly this unsophisticated flick is the best dog movie in cinemas these days. There's a great mid-credit.

GRAN TURISMO

Recommended. Based on a true story, where the original protagonist Jann Mardenborough is a stunt double for himself. Orlando Bloom is superb as the British marketing specialist, so are Geri Halliwell Horner and Djimon Hounsou as the boy's parents. Most of all, though, top-notch script by Zach Baylin and Jason Hall, direction by Neill Blomkamp and editing by Austyn Daines render the film mass viewer friendly. I've never been into gaming or car racing but this movie proved not only totally engaging for me but also perfectly comprehensible. 

BELFER (THE TEACHER) SEASON 1 EP. 5

Recommended. Opens with what appears to be an accidental deadly shooting. What follows is full of surprises except one: do we have the culprit?

The first season is available free of charge on Canal+ online all summer.

UKRYTA SIEC

Watchable. Inspired by real life events from Poland and some other countries - yes, similar criminal circles were discovered at the same time in at least 3 different countries - it's likely to reverberate across the globe. Some stilted pace in the beginning, like in an average Polish drama, precedes a story where a tabloid journalist is brought up short and then treated unfairly at work when her private sex video is released online. Then you follow her travails as she's trying to discover more secrets than one - social and family hypocrisy make for a  gripping story. What you hear forces you to face the horror of such crimes - those are hard-hitting moments - and ponder on the ambivalence of human beings. Still, with a few twists of action but also some predictability the thriller doesn't quite cut it. Characters' motivations remain vastly unclear. Poor cinematography mars top acting. 

REALITY

Recommended. From the beginning you're assured of the authenticity of material, plenty of real life footage and photos are inserted throughout. Two locations, a handful of people, where Reality Leigh (in the report misspelt Lee) Winner and two FBI agents, acted superbly by Sydney Sweeney and by Josh Hamilton and Marchánt Davis respectively, engage in an ambiguous conversation. Top-notch direction by Tina Satter, cinematography by Paul Yee, editing by Jennifer Vecchiarello and Ron Dulin skillfully reflect how she's getting trapped. The action subtly gets denser and denser, as she's gently being cornered by perfectly qualified agents, the frisking towards the end also impresses with professionalism. At the same time it's disturbing how the NSA and FBI treat whistleblowing as a vice. Yet the fact she leaked documents about how Russians tampered with the US elections (Trump's win) stays on the margin of this intense drama about interrogation techniques.

RIGET EXODUS (THE KINGDOM: EXODUS) EP. 1,2

Originally Lars von Trier shot the "Riget" serial in order to obtain funding for a bigger project. Yet this attempt has achieved a cult status. Inspired by Lynch's "Twin Peaks" comeback, now he's returned with his own serial sequel. 

Ep. 1 watchable, ep. 2 recommended. Basically it takes getting used to those Danes v. Swedes jokes - to a non-Nordic person they're not that funny, even if you know what they allude to. On the other hand, it's not the supernatural layer that's interesting but the nationalist sallies that get you hooked. Lars von Trier is self-conscious and therefore less present from episode 2. Still, his die-hard fans will get an Easter egg or two. Both the production and the action take place 25 years on so it's all up-to-date in terms of technology and social norms. I'm looking forward to seeing the remaining episodes. 

OPPENHEIMER

Watchable. Old boring Nolan returns. Even though since "Tenet" he's grasped how to make a movie dynamic, it's still overlong, even the two trials are lacklustre and plain pointless in the plot, overly complicated - the editing by Jennifer Lame doesn't do it favours - 1 hour could be easily cut out. You basically get a needlessly complex storyline that is cluttered with too many incidents and characters. It may be factually accurate but watching an encyclopedia at the cinema is far from exciting. Also Cillian Murphy has neither the looks nor the seductiveness essential to convincingly portray a womanizer. At least Rami Malek stands out even in his episodic role. Kenneth Branagh and Florence Pugh are harder to recognize having been cast, especially Florence, in the opposition to their earlier cinematic images. Music and sound effects enliven the action and are wonderful in their own right.

LES SECRETS DE MON PERE (MY FATHER'S SECRETS)

Watchable. Set in 1961-1970, it tells of an obscure period in history, when the Nazi crimes of WW2 weren't discussed. It reveals how the Jewish victims were ashamed of what humiliation they had been subjected to. This animation is a serious drama of how it damaged families, how ignorant European societies were and how the Holocaust survivors carried the burden with them many years later. When you think you know it all...

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