evanekmaloney

Such a beautifully shot film. This film blurs the borders between documentary and feature film with "talking head" interviews, obs-doc and docu-drama sequences, all beautifully rendered on the screen.

The real-life characters are presented in a warm and empathetic manner, with their anxieties about the way they look explored in a multitude of ways.

What is most interesting about the film is the neutral tone in which the story is presented. We are made to empathize and understand the subjects of this film, we understand their need and can rationalize it as human. But cosmetic surgery is not a black and white subject, and from one moment to the next the audiences judgments might waver from understanding to dismay. We realize the physical pain and the dangers involved in these procedures, and we wonder why any person would put them through such an ordeal.

Ultimately, the quest for physical perfection is seen as a basic human desire, but we are all too human for it.

Great acting, beautifully shot, with a neat twist at the end and an awesome soundtrack that works like a third actor building tension throughout the film. The woman is dead sexy and the man has something of the serpent about his manner in the way he moves and speaks. This film is well worth a look. The plot is fairly simple, a man and a woman meet at the same time in the same hotel room every week for a no-strings-attached sexual relationship. It sounds like the perfect FB fantasy but, as with all fantasies, the reality is something different. In casual sexual relationships there is generally one person hoping the relationship will develop into something more. They continue with the casual act until their desire grows too strong and they can no longer hide their true feelings and pretend everything is OK.

And so it is in this film. One character wants more. But will they get it?

One is immediately impressed by the look of this film. The opening sequences looks wonderful, with credits listed beside small, shifting squares of grainy film footage. The panoramic shots of Warsaw juxtaposing the old and the new were also beautifully realised. The light in Poland is exceptional for these kinds of shots and Porembny clearly understand this. The interiors were lovingly rendered, with the framing, lines and colours beautifully balanced and contrasted. My favourite little 'director's tag' was when the camera pans along the ceiling lights in the car park and then pulls down to reveal the figures of two men walking underneath them.

In another sequence red streaks of tail-light follow in a car's wake as it drives through the foggy night; it looks like mercurial dragon's breath.

The story is engaging without being enthralling and the acting is very solid, although it may have been more naturalistic if the performers were speaking in their native Polish tongue rather than English.

All in all, an extremely good piece of work from Edward Poremdny in his first feature film.

A simple story about human redemption that is brilliantly realized on the screen thanks to stand-out performances from the entire cast and tight direction by Guadencio.

A workaholic engineer falls into construction site hole on Christmas Eve. Among the papers of his overturned briefcase he finds a letter. After reading it he is desperate to return to his wife. During the long and eventful journey home he learns a great deal about the human spirit.

Like a man turning water into wine, Guadencio was given a simple script and a budget of 7,000 Euro and, in just four days, he produced a gem of a film.

This guy is one to watch.