Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a talented pianist and diplomat. Thanks to his musical talent and general enthusiasm arousing around him, he could successfully work for Polish policy in exile, especially in the USA. After many years Paderewski is not so well remembered or recalled personage in Poland. Łukasz Barczyk decided to pay tribute to him and also put to the test viewers used to conventional form of historical film, therefore he made the quirky Influenz.
In a Vicious Circle (The Noose, 1958)
When a depressed person tries to fight a strong alcohol addiction he comes across numerous temptations. The biggest one seems to be the allurement to reminisce. He’s being haunted by the past and though hurtful memories about actions under the influence should discourage from reaching for a bottle, he finds them so overwhelming that only vodka is able to allay them. Wojciech Has, the author of the masterpiece The Saragossa Manuscript, gave us striking testimony of an alcoholic fighting the whole world that is pinning him down.
Keep your eye in (Carte Blanche, 2015)
The sun is subtly caressing Kacper’s face. His deeply blue eyes penetrate the camera as he looks at the blackboard on which his students decided by vote to choose him as form tutor. Even though he already knows he’s about to lose his sight, he picks up the gauntlet – he’ll prepare the class for matura exam. At the same time he’s going to try preparing himself for a different quality life, the one in which he accepts his condition and comes up with lifehacks that enable him to work at school and function outside his home.
Samples from life (11 minutes, 2015)
Honoured with Special Jury Prize at 72nd Venice Festival, Jerzy Skolimowski again experiments with a movie medium. In Essential Killing (2010) he resigned from dialogues in order to highlight a survival fight of a man (Vincent Gallo) and to allow multiple interpretations. In case of his newest movie, the director plays with thriller genre. For some, it is even a pastiche of Hollywood-style cinema. Is that it or just a failed action film?
When dreaming big (The Promised Land, 1975)
The Promised Land by Andrzej Wajda is kind of a movie landscape of the city based on the novel written by Władysław Reymont at the end of XIX century. It portraits visual sphere of the city of Łódź in which dominate factory chimneys, smog and crowded streets but the film also vividly considers social classes; highlights capitalistic pursuits and weak morality of wealthy. After Reymont, the director of the movie takes a close look at characters, their hearts and souls and does not fear of being direct or critical. It is quite a masterpiece.
Slow and furious (Hardkor Disko, 2014)
He appears from nowhere, he’s lukewarm, barely speaks but somehow he is able to win people over. He captures his victims’ affection and then finishes them. It’s difficult to guess his murderous motif and generally what’s on his mind. Though there are many question marks it’s quite a feast for viewer’s eye and mind. Krzysztof Skonieczny serves us “deeply independent” movie about homicidal youngster marauding in the big city.
In the Realm of Women (Hunting Flies, 1969)
What happens when a person who embodies all your dreams and hopes (meaning not only erotic ideal, but your life aspirations) appears in your life and seduces you with words you’ve always wanted to hear? The protagonist of Hunting Flies (1969) lacks something, but when it seems his savior (a young lady) comes to help, a new life he’s starting with her is, as a matter of fact, not a bed of roses. Let’s watch now one of the movies directed by recently passed Andrzej Wajda. Continue reading
World of War (Warsaw 44, 2014)
Polish film directors still struggle with history of their motherland. The terror of World War II (In Darkness by Agnieszka Holland), Holocaust (The Pianist by Roman Polański), Soviet dictatorship (Rose by Wojciech Smarzowski, Ida by Paweł Pawlikowski) or Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (Aftermath by Władysław Pasikowski and recent Hatred by Wojciech Smarzowski) are being narrated in the Polish cinema nearly every year. Now a new generation tries to tell about those events from their perspective; from non-participant point of view which is sometimes shocking, fetching or disturbing. Jan Komasa with his Warsaw 44 is one of the best representatives.
Wish I could (not) turn back time (Baby bump, 2015)
How often do you think of “the good old days” like Twenty One Pilots in their song? Don’t we love to think of our childhood as of utopian, careless time, when everything seemed so simple? All we had to do was “just” school, making friends, playing games… Kuba Czekaj in his visually thrilling debut feature film reminds us that it is a false imagery and we easily forget about childhood struggles, which for the kid facing them appear to be giant and overwhelming.
To laugh or to cry? (A Trip Down the River)
Sometimes all things happening around seem absurd. Marek Piwowski in his movie A Trip Down the River (1970) shows there was a specific time in Polish history people acted strange. Piwowski makes a comedy that shows an absurd nature of communist ideology and people trying to follow the new principles not noticing their ridiculousness. It’s funny and terrifying. Continue reading
Polish Cinema Review 