Tiger - 2013 - Poland

Tiger - 2013 - 5/10 
AKA - Tygrys

 
She may look human to us, but she is the cat of the house.
Territorial and fiercely protective.  Her human is HER human.
Woe to any other female who encroaches on her home.  Or mates with her male staff.
Olszańska eerily emulates the feline, although the short borders on objectification.

Sorceress - 2026 - Poland

Sorceress - 2026 - 6/10 
AKA - Czarownica

 
Karol is antisocial, not especially interested in the tavern Gaja hauls him to. 
Until he encounters a dark-haired flirt who sweeps him away.
Karol has been glamoured.  There is a slice of the dark girl’s backstory.
Enough to know she can be dangerous.
Polish short plunges into uncertainty, then taps out.  Too bad. 

Akabei - 2024 - Poland

Akabei - 2024 - 6/10

 
Karol (driving) is about to suffer more “relationship” issues.
Weronica will bring up meeting her parents … again.
Then, there is the strange female in red.  Does Karol know her?
If nothing else, he is drawn to the same type: brunette, long hair, curvy.
And while my bride has slept with a knife for decades, weapons aren’t always a good thing in the house.
Thriller for those who feel trapped with their partner de jour.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366593

Boundless, Actually - 2025 - Poland

Boundless, Actually - 2025 - 6/10
AKA - W Zasadzie Bez Granic

 
The female arrives at the detective’s office.
She has a complaint, a grievance against her husband.
Details, however, are jarring.
Moody Noir short, an amusing reveal, although opens and closes ominously.
Set in September of 1939, which would be a catastrophic time for Poland.

Sara’s House - 1987 - Poland

Sara’s House - 1987 - 6/10
AKA - Dom Sary

 
Beautiful Sara is a hunter, ever seeking young, vigorous men.
Who subsequently weaken, physically erode, then vanish.
The young doctor is her newest prey, but he is extremely wary.
Based on a story by Grabinski, this is tale of the succubus, and her attendant, Asmodeus.
Pacing is measured, and this is more a chess match and open conflict.
Photography first rate, however.

Solitudo - 2020 - Poland

Solitudo - 2020 - 6/10

 
Three backpackers, and “the couple” clearly keep trying to leave the other make behind.
He is hard to shake, however, and clingy.  Uncool.
They break into an abandoned building for the night.
Only by morning, it is not abandoned.
Short film, not so much Horror as one haunt and loneliness.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357758

Demon - 2015 - Poland

Demon - 2015 - 6/10
AKA - Dibbuk

 
Python, excuse me, Piotr as he is now, travels to the village of his buddy and his soon-to-be bride, Zaneta.
While helping shift brush with an end loader, Piotr accidentally unearths an unmarked grave.
There is a human skeleton, which he covers up.
Yet the spirit, the soul, emerges, and latches itself – herself – to Piotr.
And the wedding revelries get underway.  Music, alcohol, dancing, alcohol, arguments, alcohol, sex, alcohol.
Only Piotr sees the darkly beautiful wraith, clad in an older style, approaching ever nearer.
The wedding celebrations, evasions and denials, dominate the supernatural elements.
For Americans, there are no explanations.  Only a cryptic history to make your own guess.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357652

The Zone Of Interest - 2023 - UK

The Zone Of Interest - 2023 - 7/10  

 

An ideal, well-manicured backyard, perfect for raising a family.

Pity the adjoining property is a noisy 24 hour factory, Auschwitz.

A nearby stream is contaminated with ashes, dust, other objects from time to time.

And the fresh country air?  Well, it’s not so good is you are asthmatic.

Nonetheless, Commandant Höss and his large family enjoy the posting.

The tone draws heavily from Hannah Ardent’s concept of the banality of evil.

From individuals to mobs, most are mere “joiners”; willfully blind or clueless functionaries.

Chilling film that pairs well with Son Of Saul (2015).

The Saragasso Manuscript - 1965 - Poland

The Saragasso Manuscript - 1965 - 7/10
AKA - Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie

During a lull in the Napoleonic War in Spain, an officer finds a thick book.
The manuscript details the adventures, perhaps madness, of his grandfather, decades earlier.  Beginning with a shortcut through borderland territory, he meets two beautiful sisters.
Supposedly cousins to him, they say.  Or are they ghosts?  Or djinns?  Or succubi?

 
Bravado and common sense ignored, he drinks, as any female who coaxes the tiny head could predict.
Meanwhile, he is hunted, captured by the Inquisition.  Rescued by a Kabbalahist.  Or gypsies!

 
Baffling film, brims with heady stories, odd alleyways, serendipitous coincidences.
Utterly engrossing, although the three plus hours length kept this on my shelf for a few years.
Even now, I think I missed a lot.
Multiple viewings are supposedly necessary to fully appreciate this film.
Early champions of this include Scorsese, Coppola, and of all people, Jerry Garcia.
World cinema, arthouse fans, probably a must.

The Lamp - 1959 - Poland

The Lamp - 1959 - 6/10
AKA - Lampa

 
The doll-maker decides to modernize his dim interior.
Electricity replaces kerosene.
An early, early Roman Polanski short.
Presaging a talent that was not exactly team Disney, and one that would grow darker.
More illumination, more light, is perhaps undesirable here.

Open Your Eyes - 2021 - Poland

Open Your Eyes - 2021 - 5/10
AKA - Otwórz Oczy

She wakes in the hospital bed.  What happened?  Where am I?  Wait a minute … who am I?
Another day in the amnesia clinic for Julia.
An exclusive center, where all patients are young and talented.  Gifted.
Also tightly watched and controlled.

 
Two episodes set up characters, stories, and the “surveillance village” concept.
Followed by three episodes where everyone twirls their thumbs.
Padding.  Trying to make characters with the personalities of potatoes seem intriguing.
Then the last episode, where the plot is shuffled, and is suddenly interesting.
Why didn’t writers do this from the beginning?  Why?  Because they were told to deliver a Netflix ending.
Meaning, there ain’t no ending.  Producers hope for a S02 for a series with more fat than an elephant seal.
Dull writing, weighted down with zombie actors.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher - various - various

The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Short - 2004 - USA

 
Narrator goes to visit old friend, "Roger" Usher, then helps entomb recently deceased sister.
Truncated version is a mix of black n white sketches, animation and claymation.
The house resembles a condemned doll house, minimally furnished.
Piano score is spare and moody.
Curio, worth a look, though might be regarded as akin to a student project.

* * *

Zanik Domu Usheru - 1982 - Poland

 
Experimental Polish short in high contrast black and white.
Unseen narrator (Polish) tours the ruined Usher manor.
Creative stop motion photography indicates spreading decay or genuine weirdness.
No actors.  Rather, furniture moves on their own, Madeline's coffin slides to its end.
Point of view shifts from time to time, though my chief problem was reading subs instead of paying full attention to the hypnotic camera work.
Not overly surreal nor indecipherable as others have mentioned.

* * *

La Chute de la Maison Usher - 1928 - France

 
Full length, French retelling that tends to over linger and hold scenes too long.
Visuals are often quite arresting, and much of the camera work seems hand held
The spacious maison Usher is remarkable. albeit exceedingly drafty.
Music ranges from out of place Renaissance to discordant piano.
I enjoyed a lot of this, but the stagnant pace had me checking the time.

* * *

Short - 1928 - USA

 
Short, from near the end of the Silent era, highly Expressionistic.
Multiple exposures, distorted angles, brooding shadows, prism effects.
No intertitle cards, film creators assume viewer is familiar with Poe's story.
Madeline's clothes are elegant Art Deco attire.
This has been recently remastered and has a brief, spoken introduction.
Likely to rewatch this version again.

The Tribulations Of Balthazar Kober - 1988 - Poland

The Tribulations Of Balthazar Kober - 1988 - 7/10
AKA - Niezwykla Podróz Baltazara Kobera

Balthazar, not so much a simpleton as an uncomplicated soul, is already marked.
He talks with dead family members, and at times is guided by the angel Gabriel.

 
Excuse me, archangel Gabriel.  And the Devil, genial, perhaps helpful, lingers nearby.
Balthazar’s role involves a path.  Naturally, this betokes a mission, which he barely grasps.
He is soon caught between the Holy Inquisition, an underground resistance, and a circus troupe.
Various guides include a puppet master, a gentleman merchant, a harp strumming lovely.
Throughout, I kept wondering how much was an oblique commentary on current Polish events.
(Poland was then breaking Soviet shackles, replacing one onerous ism with another.)

Panic Attack - 2017 - Poland

Panic Attack - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Atak Paniki

 
Multiple storylines that connect ... somewhat.
A bride at her wedding, young boys getting stoned, a couple having lunch, airline passengers saddled with an overly chatty seatmate, a sex worker, an online gamer.  There may another, I don't remember.
Title might just as well be "When Disaster Strikes!"
This Polish film is not as funny as adverts declare.  Characters are, one way or another, spineless.
Despite a few clever premises and sympathetic acting, the writing does not deliver.

The Double Life Of Véronique - 1991 - France

The Double Life Of Véronique - 1991 - 7/10
AKA - La Double Vie de Véronique

 
Weronika has a gift.  A voice so radiant, ethereal, its purity leaves listeners breathless.
There is a price, though.  At times, near the peak of delirium, it hurts.
One afternoon, watching passengers board the bus, she sees her double.
Weronika stand there, spellbound, while the doppelganger on the bus does not see her.
In any other film, the narratives would begin to dovetail between Weronika and Véronique.
Not so here
At one point, one story ebbs and the other surges to prominence.
Véronique, a music teacher, appears to lead a less compelling life than Weronika.
Nonetheless, during a theatre performance, a side door opens.
The film is then an exploration of self-identity, awareness, what it is like to exist.
A haunting film, but not an easy film.  Director Kieślowski leaves some questions unanswered, others are opaque.
Different audiences will likely have different interpretations.
The mystery of Life, the ecstasy of the moment.

The Mill And The Cross - 2011

The Mill And The Cross - 2011 - 7/10
AKA - Mlyn i Krzyz

 
Arthouse cinema with Rutger Hauer, Michael York and Charlotte Rampling.
Deliberately paced film shows the creation of Bruegel’s The Way To Calvary.
Hauer, as Bruegel, explains to his patron (York) various aspects of the composition.
Tree of Life on one side, Tree of Death (catherine wheel) balanced on the other.
I was ignorant of Flemish history and couldn’t understand why red garbed Spanish conquistadors were killing heretics.
Looked it up, the start of the Eighty Years War for Dutch independence was imminent.
Every image was a jeweled painting in costume and design.
Film fell somewhere between Monk’s Book Of Days and Parajanov’s The Color Of Pomegranates.

The Hourglass Sanatorium - 1973 - Poland

The Hourglass Sanatorium - 1973 - 7/10
AKA - Sanatorium Pod Klepsydra
AKA - The Sandglass

 
Difficult, at times baffling, journey into memory.
Józef arrives at the sanatorium where his father is dying – check that – has died.
The director says death has been suspended, as they manipulate time.
Father is dead, yet he is not dead (he exists in Józef’s memory).
The labyrinthian institute seems the de facto maze of recollection.
His childhood in the boisterous shtetl mixes with historical personages and incidents.
Waxwork mannikins suggest, but do not illuminate.
Logic and linearity are submerged, memory is deceptive and cluttered.
Much of this eluded me.  I know little of Polish history, nor have I read many stories by Bruno Schultz, on which this is based.
While I was often lost, the visuals, surrealistic and dreamlike, kept me riveted throughout.

Dekalog - 1989 - Poland

Dekalog - 1989 - 8/10
AKA - The Decalogue

Ten part morality series based on the Ten Commandments.
Each episode reworks a specific “thou shalt” commandment, though sometimes the reference is vague.
While stories are stand-alone, characters often reappear. Most live in the same large apartment.
Extraordinarily well done and thoughtful.
Although not a downer series, it is “Serious” filmmaking.
And yes, this is a Polish TV series, but is firmly rooted in cinema.
While I admired this and appreciated it, I did not enjoy a single episode.
For obscure music buffs, a rare chance to hear Van den Budenmayer.