plater

Best Homer adaptation available on film. Period. Profoundly Mediterranean. Bekim Fehmiu and all other cast members are spot on. Mandatory viewing for any man or woman of culture.

A gem for a perfect description of Brezhnevian Communism gone stale and about to take a jump in the dustbin of history.

Dialogue is just great and cult quotes abound (sadly lost for those without knowledge of French). Not to mention epiphany situations, e.g. various party members comparing their various party membership cards/levels to assert their respective authority until one settles it by saying "we're all party members in this room but are you KGB, comrade?".

A film with intelligence, remarkably devoid of simplification in its social and political portrayal of our cold, ruthless world of postmodern haves and have-nots. The distant but all the more biting satire (or is that the right word?) of Poland's new urban bourgeoisie is very effective. Also one of the few recent films able to capture young people's permanent online emotional handicap.

Ah, well—this is probably written in reaction to some of the harsh reviews; they're fully justified—but this film deserves some defense. True, it's long, repetitive and lacks real focus—lacks a real narrative, actually. OK, dabbling with esthetics without mastering everything. OK, a number of gimmicks and silly bits.

But it's emotionally forceful; the portrayal of depression and one's relation to pills is quietly poignant. Esthetically, it has moments of real beauty and quiet eroticism/tenderness. Tom Macy transcends his handsomeness with truly convincing acting—doesn't seem to me to be "lost at sea" doing things at random.

So, not a complete failure; not just another arty, pretentious, uneducated ego trip or film school spawn. Deserves watching and appreciation.

Dark and truthful about alcohol addiction. Dark streets of Krakow, dark moments. 24 hours in the life of a man ready to quit drinking...but will he make it? Some ready to help him, some ready to drag him down. Even the walls seem to play a part in the suspense. The same oppressiveness as in Bergman's Silence with the same intelligence in manipulating time sequences: a factual, step-by-step narrative becomes slowly warped, elliptic... Fine black-and-white photography, sharp dialogs. Sterling proof of Wojciech Has's talent and yet another example of how good Polish cinema was.

The (long and central) drinking scene with the ex-saxophonist wasted by vodka is a gem. Gustaw Holoubek is extraordinary throughout and the short form for the name of his character "Kuba" will probably remain ringing in your ears

A beautiful and moving film with some sequences of song and dumb-show leaving the spectator spellbound...a mix of the German sense of poetry and doom and of something almost like Bergman's Seventh Seal. Fine black and white photography, proper attention paid to every detail. Minor parts are all remarkable and even Birgel's swagger and Lotte Koch's half-dazed performance are intriguing. Zarah Leander at her best!