Movie reviews

THE THING WITH THE FEATHERS

Watchable. Normally it's Polish cinema that offers sorrowful dramas about mourning and especially about children who've lost their mother. This British drama is about a father who's lost his wife and who suffers more than his sons. The crow is never shown too clearly, probably in order not to reveal how fake ithis huge horror creature is. The whole thing is dull, crazy but consistent.

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

HARVEY KEITEL, A L'OMBRE DES TENEBRES (HARVEY KEITEL: BETWEEN HOLLYWOOD AND INDEPENDENT FILM)

Recommended. A fascinating film about a famous supporting actor and how he missed his chance for stardom - De Niro's role in "Taxi Driver" was originally written for him, a real ex-Marine - and eventually to some extent got it back in his 50s. It also shows how much of success depends on relationships with other people.

The documentary was available on Arte TV.

EKO

Watchable. This Malayalam mystery drama about dogs and their masters offers beautiful pcitures of nature from the start as well as an engaging story. The only downside is that a big part of the suspense are the snippets of information why Kuriyachan is wanted by so many people and the full scope of his alleged wrongdoing, or what it was specifically, is never revealed.

KICA KOCIA MA BRACISZKA

Watchable. Another set of Kicia Kocia's everyday dilemmas - charming, cute, teaching children empathy e.g. in the episode devited to an allergy which would exclude a girl from playing in the garden. The only downside is the episode about cleaning teeth - the method is outdated and, what's worse, the dentist is wearing her mask on her chin.

THE RUNNING MAN

Recommended. The new adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novel plays with the first, 1987, adaptation - Arnold Schwarzenegger's image is on banknotes, only to be replaced by Glen Powell's in the end credit pictures (since this is where the plot i.e. the revolution continues), but the new version is based on our likely future: mass surveillance is just a start, self-driving cars, digital ticket desk staff and the like form a complete world. It's a world of huge social status disparities, where you even need to cross a gate to enter the better-off realm. Frequent spelling misktakes indicate the poor are uneducated but it's them who become aware of the Network's lies, as they are on the receiving end. It's also critical of consumerism - the boys  who have killed a contestant receive a lifetime supply of certain brand of breakfast flakes - later the protagonist's wife is seen buying the same. Glen Powell is superb in his complex role. The plot offers a number of twists. It's also clearly based on our post truth reality and deep fakes. This adaptation is probably even better than the first one. 

STARGATE - EN JULEFORTELLING (STARGATE - A CHRISTMAS STORY)

Hyped by Dua Lipa as a modern version of Andersen's "Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne" ("The Little Match Girl") the movie has just been released in Polish cinemas, luckily in a subtitled version. 

Watchable. A very quiet movie, with no background music. Very mundane and prolonged but engaging in spite of that. Still, it's quite sorrowful since two girls are trying to cope with life having an alcoholic father. You learn a bit about the Norwegian society, their lifestyle and  Norwegian traditions, like St. Lucia's Day. Other than that, it's just a gloomy drama. While it provides some optimism - they do manage in spite of their parent 's virtual absence, the whole thing leaves you despondent.

I've had a chance to compare it with the book by Ingvid H. Rishøi, who collaborated with the director on the film script. The movie is true to the book and surpasses it in a way since it's more consistent. Also the book, on top of being sad, feels hysterical at times while the girls in the movie act naturally. On the other hand, the book doesn't drag so it's easier to follow than the protracted adaptation.

LISTY Z WILCZEJ (LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET)

Watchable. This documentary by an Indian who's graduated from a Polish film school, who speaks very good Polish and has been living here for years tells about one street comparing it nowadays and in the last century. It's a consistent film where the author tries to understand why his Indian pal took his own life in the country he had dreamed of. He focuses on Poles' mixed attitudes to immigrants, but what transpires through this bias, are heart-warming characters, like a shoe maker or a postman - modest but the true pillars of the community.

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

THE CARPENTER'S SON

Walked out. The ridiculous plot tries to persuade you Jezus at 15 was a naughty kid and the times brutal. It's not clear where it's headed band, being so protracted and amateurishly shot and acted - especially Noah Jupe as "the Boy" i.e., fresh-after-botox FKA twigs as the Mother i.e. Mary and Isla Johnston as "the Stranger" i.e.Satan, I didn't stick around till the end to find out. 

ESSEN. MACHT. GESCHICHTE (A HISTORY OF FOOD)

Recommended. The film charts the history of humanity through food: from hominids, through the Neolitic times, ancient Egypt and Rome, the Middle Ages and the great three religions, the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries - driven mostly by the urge to cut out the middlemen Arabs from the spice import to Europe, slavery following the introduction of Asian sugarcane to the Americas, the Irish famine and the French Revolution, the rise of inns, which were the precursors of restaurants where the common man dined lacking his own kitchen - kitchens were for the wealthy, industrialisation and the first non-manure fertiliser, as well as preservation and sterilisation methods or the broth stock, next quality control following mass production fraud and poisonings, long shifts in factories and the first canteen. A comprehensive presentation of how food unites or divides, elevates status or excludes and, most of all, how the whole history of humanity has been a search for food, better food and more of it. 

The documentary was available on Arte TV.