Subtitled films are often a safe bet, as countries want the world to see their best work. This is true even when the films show the worst elements of their country. Here the subject is violent lowlife drug dealers, but includes humanising elements too. Even gangsters have mothers, girlfriends, children, crushes.
A downside of subtitled films, though, is that we might not recognise the big stars and might not always know who is who. Here a shaven-headed thug is a member of a gang of similar, who gets involved in a turf war with other shaven-headed thugs.
I got lost sometimes with who was who, particularly when our antihero 'Savage' betrayed his own side and became the foe of two almost-identical gangs. The worst part was a scene in which Savage escaped a life-threatening situation in a deus ex machina moment too dark to even work out who he fought or how he overcame them. No spoilers as this was close to the end.
A number of scenes did not work for me. Savage is taking a sex worker to a job but tries to persuade her not to go but to have sex with him instead. When he delivers two women to another job, his entrance is a carefully choreographed tableau but comes across as gurning for the camera. Savage himself often looks more like Uncle Fester than anybody truly brutal, but this is mitigated by other characters (including his brother) who are as intimidating as any I can think of.
The depiction of a criminal lifestyle was credible. Drug use, violence and misogyny all at their most casual, yet Savage holds on to some love for family. The film is also careful in its treatment of violence, ever present but rarely explicit, and does well to avoid pious judgment - these are the people; these are their lives.
There are plot holes in abundance. Savage is given more last chances and 'get out of jail free' cards than anyone else, and seems to be trusted with detailed information despite the fact he is widely perceived as an idiot. Indeed, that perception is a significant plot point.
Despite the extent of the criminality, very few members of the public appear. The only time I remember is as blurry characters while Savage drifts the streets in an emotional daze. Otherwise every person seen is a gangster, a follower, a sex worker or their punter, or a family member. This contributes greatly to the claustrophobic sense of a world within a world. So pervasive is the criminality that interaction with the general population is almost non-existent.
I could imagine a successful remake from UK or US, or other nation with a wider market. The elements of a powerful story are there, just a little hard to tease out when the viewer is already struggling with recognising cultural cues. It must surely have a loyal following in Poland.
The film could be better, true, but is worth watching nonetheless as a bleak insight into a world alien to most.
