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Reviews
Ostatnie pietro (2013)
This is a cynical story but one that is still enjoyable and thrilling.
This dark, paranoid thriller from Tadeusz Krol tells the story of an upstanding military officer and family man, whose accurate suspicion of the institution he has served all his life, leads to his mental state deteriorating and ending in tragedy. Janusz Chabior delivers a chilling portrayal of Captain Derczynski, a proud nationalist, who, after being told he is being transferred and demoted from his base, tries to expose corruption and protect his family from the evil forces he perceives. As his actions become more desperate and out of control we assume his judgement is growing ever cloudier, until it becomes clear his paranoia is justified.
At first Derczynski is hard to sympathise with, insisting on passing on all his beliefs and habits to his two young sons and showing displeased indifference towards his teenage daughter. He sneers at her enthusiasm to go on a school trip to see a holocaust movie despite her fear of being ostracized from her peers. However, we also see his commitment to his family through some warm moments of father and son's bonding and his eventual capitulation in the face of imploring from his wife and daughter. His duty to protect his family also comes to the fore when an old boyfriend of his wife's turns up unexpectedly and threatens to disrupt the family equilibrium.
From here on begins the extra security measures and growing paranoia in the captain. We witness him growing more concerned about the dangers of the outside world and, in turn, his family increasingly fearing his behaviour. Matters come to a head when Derczynski is compelled to go to extremes and things start to turn ugly.
On the one hand the film seems to romanticize it's main character's traditional and nationalist convictions, but on the other, condemns them through the depiction of an institution crushing one it's most ardent supporters. It invokes disapproval of homophobic and anti-semitic notions held by the captain, suggesting that such an outdated view of the world is responsible for his downfall.
As the film goes on we are treated to lots of darkly lit, claustrophobic scenes inside the family home which becomes like a prison, it's inhabitants becoming hostages. The camera begins to close in on Chabior a lot more and you can feel his world coming down on him. Eventually it is the intervention of another tradional institution, in the local priest, that triggers the denouement.
The sombre ending neither restores faith nor offers optimism, showing how one man is no match for the powers that be. A distrust of the authorities and sense of helplessness are all that is left. This is a cynical story but one that is still enjoyable and thrilling.
Review by Stuart McWalter for the Play Poland Film Festival.
Kebab i Horoskop (2014)
This film shows us that we all suffer in life but we may as well laugh at it.
Kebab and Horoscope, Grzegorz Jaroszuk's comedy about the hapless, clueless employees of a carpet store, balances awkward, cringe- inducing humour with some of life's hard truths. It deals with loneliness, romance and relationships in a melancholic fashion, but the next laugh is never far away and serves to keep the mood light hearted. Released earlier this year, it will be screened as part of the 4th Edition of Play Poland Film Festival, and is a personal highlight of the programme.
The film immediately sets the downbeat tone with the meeting of 'Kebab' and 'Horoscope'. One was an employee of a kebab shop, the other a horoscope writer for a wildlife magazine. Both now sit depressed, alone and jobless in a quiet kebab shop. After bonding over an inedible kebab, they devise a plan to reinvent themselves as marketing experts and offer their services to probably the quietest carpet store in the world. The employees are so in awe that they happily submit to the, supposedly, specialised training scheme the marketing geniuses have in store for them.
What follows is hilarious scenes of the them lecturing the staff with nonsensical babble while they all marvel and somehow interpret it into common sense. These are intercut with glimpses into each of the employees' private lives, which sometimes collide and intertwine. They include the shop owner who is so self-conscious and keen to impress, especially some of the female staff, that he is constantly trying to build up his muscles by lifting weights and doing press ups. And the young woman who is subjected to sharing a bed with her depressive and ungrateful mother and is forced to track down her long lost love. All seem to suffer from the lack of real love in their life and the expressions of longing in all the actors' faces makes this clear. The questionable advice and guidance they receive seems to inspire and motivate them towards self improvement and happiness. The gurus, or conmen, watch on in glee as their plan takes hold.
The performances given are understated and controlled, and some scenes feel like there is a dark cloud hanging over them. Long silences give a sense of the awkwardness of the characters. In this respect, parts of this film were reminiscent of what Wes Anderson achieves in his films. The eccentricity and, sometimes, absurdity of the characters providing the foundation for humour. Even the style of cinematography was similar at times, with lots of wide angles and symmetrical composition of establishing shots. We get to see lots of the characters' environment which often seems pale and drab, and more and more we sympathise with them.
"Kebab and Horoscope" leaves no feelings of resolution or of an uplifting nature, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The director lets us experience the characters' lostness and loneliness but makes light of it in equal measure. It is comedy masquerading as drama in that the characters are oblivious to the comic aspect of their tragedy. This film shows us that we all suffer in life but we may as well laugh at it.
Review by Stuart McWalter for the Play Poland Film Festival.