July, 2013 - Krakow Post

KINO MANIA
29
■ Giuseppe Sedia
★★★★★ Go now! ★★★★ See it ★★★ Solid ★★ If you must ★ Avoid
Inny świat (Another World) 2013 ★★★★★
Starring: Danuta Szaflarska | Directed by: Dorota Kędzierzawska
Although veteran actress Danuta Szaflarska
has admitted that she doesn’t
like to be filmed in close-up, she gave her
filmmaker friend Dorota Kędzierzawska the
chance to do just that for Inny świat (Another
World). The idea for the film emerged
as the pair were on the road promoting
the acclaimed feature Pora umierać (Time to
Die, 2007), in which Szaflarska plays a lonely
but lively woman who is left in her later
life with nobody to talk to but her dog. To
a certain degree, Inny świat is a non-fiction
extension to Pora umierać. Szaflarska, now
98 years old, speaks about art and life directly
to the camera without the burden of
playing a character. Her extraordinary clear
recollections allow her personality to shine
on the screen, even more so than the many
memorable characters she has portrayed.
Inny świat is also an attempt to isolate the
components of Szaflarska’s personal elixir
of life. The actress has developed a knack
of imaginatively interpreting and softening
her sometimes harsh life. In her world,
the hissing bullets of the war were ‘singing’
and the bombs plummeting from the sky
sounded just like cows mooing. Cinematographer
Artur Reinhart keeps the camera
on Szaflarska for every second of the
film. The flow of her recollections is never
interrupted, almost as if the 20th century
itself is speaking through her.
Dziewczyna z szafy (Girl From the Closet) 2012 ★★★★
Starring: Magdalena Różańska, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Piotr Głowacki, Eryk Lubos | Directed by: Bodo Kox
Has Wrocław’s independent film scene
shift permanently to the mainstream?
Dominik Matwiejczyk recently directed
Mechanizm obronny (Defence Mechanism,
2012), a refined short feature about a Polish
soldier returning from Iraq, as his fellow
filmmaker, Bodo Kox, was also working on
his first non-underground effort. The result,
Dziewczyna z szafy (Girl From the Closet),
proves that Kox has not yet fully crossed
the Rubicon. Although the actor and filmmaker
has put aside parody for his latest
movie, he has not yet aligned himself with
the Polish mainstream. The striking confrontation
between Magda (Magdalena
Różańska), an introverted anthropologist
who sleeps in her wardrobe, and young
savant Tomek (Wojciech Mecwaldowski) is
one of the most touching in Polish cinema.
Kox has also made the best of the rest of
his cast, including Piotr Głowacki playing
Tomek’s brother and Eryk Lubos in the role
of a bashful, pencil-moustached policeman
who also featured in Wojciech Smarzowski’s
Drogówka (Traffic Police, 2013). The
sudden irruption of zeppelins and Jungle
Book-like scenarios as Magda and Tomek
daydream give the movie an irresistible
Kusturica-esque humour. The film has
earned Kox the wide recognition he has
always deserved, at least in his homeland,
and its is clear that he is more promising
than many of the celebrated Indie directors
working in Europe today.
Krew z nosa (Nose Bleed) 2004
Starring: Bodo Kox, Robert Gonera, Piotr Matwiejczyk, Dawid Antkowiak | Directed by: Dominik Matwiejczyk
Dominik Matwiejczyk has earned a
reputation as a prolific author of
spoof movies. Krew z nosa is one such, and
should be regarded as a milestone in Polish
underground film. Set in the suburbs of
Wrocław, Matwiejczyk’s film is a witty parody
of gritty films about life in the housing
projects. Shot in black and white, just like
cult French movie La Haine (1995), which
Matwiejczyk’s movie lampoons, Krew z
nosa remains the best introduction to the
Polish Indie filmmaking scene. Audiences
are provided with the chance to become
acquainted with the main faces from the
Polish circle of low budget filmmakers all
in one film, including Matwiejczyk’s brother
Piotr and Bodo Kox, both in the cast. The
narrative recounts the story of Pablo, who
believes he can drastically change his life
by recording a Hip Hop debut. Matwiejczyk’s
movie is mercifully devoid of social
messages. There are no rioting heroes, just
a bunch of low-life characters involved in
trivial brawls set to cartoon sound effects.