Reviews

Scierwodziad (The Carcass) is a short 17-minute Polish horror from Talarkino, which is directed by Jakub Poltorak and edited by Ben Talar. Horror is a genre that isn't too common in Polish cinema (although Science Fiction is even more rare), so this film joins a fairly short list of movies from Poland that intend to frighten or creep out its viewers. Although I am not a fan of horror films in general, I found this short to be very enjoyable as the story is interesting and suspenseful.

The action, or interaction, of this movie deals with a young photographer (Leszek Zukowski) and an old man (Cezary Szczygielski) that isn't quite normal. The photographer rents a room from the old man to stay for a couple weeks, but it won't be a very pleasant stay. The title of the film and the tagline (He is dead - but he is ALIVE!) tell us all we need to know about where the story is heading.

The director was really able to push the actors into great performances that put us on the edge. Scierwodziad is shot in black and white, which adds a level of creepiness to the story. Furthermore, the music beautifully matches the mood the images create, so we really do have something interesting to watch. And don't worry -- the grotesque is kept off camera so even those who don't like horrors can enjoy it.

The challenges that we face in life today are put into perspective when compared to what people endured during World War II. Stories about the holocaust are painful yet amazing in the sense that they shows us the strength in people that has no rival. In Darkness (W ciemnosci), directed by Agnieszka Holland, is the true story of a sewer worker that saves the lives of a group of Jews. Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) is a Pole living in Lwow (now called Lviv and part of Ukraine) in Nazi occupied Poland. He doesn't go out of his way to become a hero, but rather he stumbles on the opportunity to make money hiding Jews in the sewers he knows so well.

Lwow has a rich history for both Poles and Jews that spans many centuries (while today both of these groups are only small minorities), with a mix of ethnicities, including Ukrainians, coexisting peacefully before the war. With the conflict running its course, self-interest and survival are the two primary motivations most people are left with. Leopold risks not only his own life, but also that of his entire family, by assisting the survival of anyone Jewish. The Germans meted out a quick punishment of death to the Poles who tired any heroics. Both the group of Jews and Leopold have some reservations and distrust in each other, but as time goes on, their business arrangement turns into much more.

In Darkness doesn't spare us the brutal events of war and will be quite shocking for some viewers. I would say the film is inappropriate for children for a number of reasons and the squeamish may also find it hard to watch. However, the violence isn't gratuitous, as it only adds to what really went on. The realism is also enhanced by the fact that several languages are used in this movie, including Polish, Yiddish, German and Ukrainian.

No other subject has received as much attention in Polish cinema as World War II. Some say these films acted as a catharsis for the whole country after it witnessed so many horrors. While this still may hold true, these movies also educate their audiences to history many are unaware of. While In Darkness doesn't try to overload us with historical facts or dates, as it subtlety informs us of how life was like in Nazi occupied Poland. We get a good look at the chaotic and brutal way of life people had to endue and come away with an appreciation that things should never be that away again.

With the tough economic times in the 1930s, escaping the reality of every day life was a nice break from one's worries. Coming into a lot of money was a fantasy many people would dream about. Ten Percent for Me (Dziesiec Procent dla Mnie) is a comedy that does both of these, as it is an amusing story about a family that inherits a fortune.

When a notary informs a family that their aunt that moved to America has given them $50,000 in her will, they are overjoyed! The mother, who sees herself as having noble blood, sees this as her chance to finally live a life more fitting to her tastes. The family decides to move to Warsaw to begin their new life. But the daughter is leaving behind her sweetheart she loves from the same village. Although her father is laid back about the matter, her mother is totally against them being together and sees this as a great way to keep them apart.

When they get to the city, things get pretty funny. This family from the country is a little out of place in the big city. Furthermore, while the wife imagines herself to be royalty, she lacks cultural refinement and constantly makes a fool of herself. Top it off with they are all very naive and make easy targets for con men looking to make some money. When they arrive in the city, they meet a man who agrees to take them around the city, but he tells the shops beforehand that he wants his ten percent. I found a lot of things in this film funny, albeit the humor was based on the ridiculous.

Ten Percent for Me is both a comedy and a musical. There is plenty of singing throughout the movie for those who like such things. Each and every Polish film made during the inter-war period is special in some way. We are lucky that these movies were not destroyed over the years and that we are still able to watch them today. With Ten Percent for Me, it is quite a treat to see how beautiful Warsaw was in 1933.

Sniadanie do lozka made me loose faith in the Polish film industry and really question the direction it is heading. For years now I have been hearing from people that live in Poland that new Polish films are senseless and are getting to the point that they are not worth watching. Watching flub after dud, I can no longer disagree with where this sentiment came from.

Being a romantic comedy should not mean that the entire story is predictable, but unfortunately it does. It is impossible for me to give away the story, because the film does that much better than I ever could. From the first minute of the film where the main character drivers his scooter past a girl on a bicycle, you know the romance will be between them. She puts up a little resistance to him at first, as we would expect, but doesn't stand firm too long. The entire movie is undistinguished and mindless entertainment. By the end of the film I wasn't able to recall a single character's name, as they were all as unmemorable as the story.

Is it possible for some people to like this movie? Yes, I am sure some people can be mildly amused with the story, but I doubt anyone will truly think this movie is really good. The commercialism in it is really apparent - with the Bosch appliances and LOT Polish Airlines both getting a good advertisement out of it. Don't get me wrong, I like both of these companies a lot, but even someone in the audience with me made a wisecrack of what a commercial this movie is.

I used to consider Piotr Adamczyk to be one of the most talented actors in Polish film. Considering this is the third mediocre movie in a row that I watched with Adamczyk, I have realized that I can no longer expect a movie to be good just because he is in it. I will equally remember that Krzysztof Lang directed Sniadanie do lozka, but for all the wrong reasons.

Toy (Zabawka) is a drama about a cabaret singer named Lulu (Alma Kar). With the help of her friends, Lulu decides to charm a rich man from the county and begins an adventure far more complicated than she anticipated. After Lulu's performance, the two wealthiest guests request Lulu and her friend accompany them at their table. The wealthy estate owner Baron Latoszynski is big, but gentile. After sharing some drinks, Lulu decides to sneak into Latoszynski's car and go home with him.

Latoszynski's arrival with a girl from the city is a shock for his servants. Lulu is a woman that sees opportunity in having a relationship with a rich man, and you may even say she is a gold digger. The timid shell of the estate owner doesn't stop him from getting his way, so Lulu has more in store for herself than she intends. When Latoszynski gets a telegram that his son is arriving with his fiancée, Lulu is quickly taken to a nearby hunting cabin for a few days to prevent gossip.

Although hiding Lulu may seem like a good idea at the time, it backfires for several reasons. In addition to being disrespectful to Lulu, the forester's son Kuzma (Eugeniusz Bodo) lives right next to the cabin. Kuzma is a ladies man so it is like keeping the fox with the chicken. Furthermore, when the Baron's son sees Lulu, he is taken in by her too.

As with many of the films directed by Michal Waszynski, the story could be considered a drama with tragic irony. There is quite a mess with three men interested in Lulu and she isn't sure which one she will choose. Her flirtation with each of them backfires. We are not sure if any of the men are really serious about her or are just treating her like a toy. Lulu thought she could manipulate the situation to suit her, but the truth is that she may be the one that is being used.

As with most pre-war Polish films, we don't see the lives of average people, but of those that are very rich. It is interesting to see in Zabawka that the class divide is shown very clearly. When the forester's son is invited to the party, he celebrates with the other servants out of sight of the other wealthy invited guests.

The Stray (Przybleda) is a drama that feels like a classical tragedy, but is set in the Polish highlands. As the story has all the basic themes, such as jealousy, infidelity and murder, that are part of tragic tales ancient and modern. I think the story has a timeless appeal, but presents it in a special way. It fully embraces its setting making it part of the fabric of the story. The beautiful landscapes and colorful costumes of the people that live in the Polish highlands are unforgettable.

The outsider of this story is Maryjka (Ina Benita). She is a beautiful blonde woman that outshines all of the village women with her looks. The women of the village despise Maryjka because their men adore her. All of the village women are convinced Maryjka is cursed and brings death to their cows, but her only curse is her looks that make men behave like animals. All of the men desire Maryjka, including the married ones, which begets troubles for them all. Even the chieftain is smitten by Maryjka, so in order to stay on the good side of the most powerful man in this village isn't an easy task for her.

The witch-hunt mob mentality that possesses the village is frightening, but is part and parcel of every story about an outsider. The story doesn't have a great deal of dialogue and uses a lot of visual communication to get its messages across. Despite the mistakes Maryjka and the others make, the story doesn't leave us without the hope that things can get better and one can redeem oneself. Considering how much the story does in just over an hour is quite impressive, so I have to give a lot of credit to Jan Nowina-Przybylski and Jan Rogozinski, the directors of Przybleda.

More than Life at Stake (Stawka wieksza niz zycie) is a Polish television series about a Polish spy deep in the ranks of Abwehr (German military intelligence) during World War II. The first episode sets the stage for this 18 episode series. After the Russians capture a German spy by the name of Hans Kloss, they spend a great deal of time interrogating him about the smallest details of his life. The German spy is replaced with a Polish look-a-like named Janek (Stanislaw Mikulski), and his "escape" is staged to have several German witnesses that will confirm his identity as a German officer. Hans Kloss provides intelligence and assistance to other spies he is aligned with and, more significantly, creates an environment in which the Germans are all suspecting each other of being a traitor, thus crushing their morale.

Hans Kloss gets himself into countless sticky situations, which nearly take a miracle to untangle from. Each episode has mystery and keeps one guessing how it will turn out until the very end. Although there is no major carryover in the storyline between each episode, there are more than a number of small details that find their way into the next installments.

The entire story takes place from 1943 to 1945, and we see Germany at its height of power to its gradual fall. The part that I found especially interesting are the final days of the war, when the tables were turned and the days of the Germany's power where numbered. The fear they inspired in others is now something they had to deal with themselves. I also found it interesting that it showed some of the German officers were positioning themselves to look favorable with the Americans hoping to find a haven with them (which has been confirmed a number of times with declassified information but isn't widely known).

More than Life at Stake is a classic Polish television show that has remained popular since its creation in 1967-1968 (and probably will for many years in the future). The episodes are alternately directed by Andrzej Konic or Janusz Morgenstern. Hans Kloss is a cultural icon that is probably just as popular as Czterej pancerni i pies, which was also made in the late 1960s. Furthermore, even though Stawka wieksza niz zycie was made during the period of Soviet occupation of Poland, there is less pro-communist sentiment than Czterej pancerni i pies and even portrays the AK favorably. More than Life at Stake is an exceptional WWII serial, particularly for those who like the espionage side to the story.

The Last Stage (Ostatni Etap) is about the women who were interned at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Although men were also imprisoned there, this story is mostly about the women. People from all over Europe (including France, Hungry, Poland and Russia) were caged and killed at this camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Some were imprisoned for political reasons and others for simply being a Pole or a Jew. The story is based on the actual experiences of the director (Wanda Jakubowska) and was shot on location just three years after the war, which gives it a feeling of practically being a recreation of the atrocity.

Although we get to know a group of women, one that stands out is Martha Weiss. She is a young Jewish woman that is spared the same fate as her family because she ends up working for the Germans as an interpreter. Those who have a skill useful to the Nazis are spared leaving the camp though the smoke of the chimney. Martha and her friends make the best of their grim situation and are courageous in their acts of defiance.

With their survival threatened, not all of the prisoners are quite so noble. Some of the prisoners work as assistants for the guards to help them do their dirty work. In return, they get a few extra comforts and their own deaths are delayed.

The Last Stage captures the feeling of what it was like at Auschwitz, which is at times surreal with an orchestra of prisoners playing classical music out in the open air while the other prisoners are abused and degraded by their captors.

Ostatni Etap is a classic Polish movie; in Poland, it is in the top 20 of all time box office hits of Polish cinema. The Last Stage depicts a disturbing part of history, but it is better to know what really happened during World War II than it is to pretend it never did, which is why I would recommend everyone to watch this movie.

People have loved storytelling since the beginning of time. Stories that captivate us, stories that give us chills, stories that excite us, and stories that make us think are all great, but some stories do all of these such as The Saragossa Manuscript (Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie). The Saragossa Manuscript is quite possibly one of the best Polish films ever made and is one of my favorites. Based on the novel written by Jan Potocki, this classic Polish movie directed by Wojciech Has is not straightforward, but rather resembles a complicated tapestry.

During the Napoleonic wars in Spain, two soldiers from opposing sides become fascinated by the same object. A French officer finds a manuscript on the second floor of a tavern, but the town is soon captured by the Spanish. The Spaniard, seeing the importance of the tome, translates it to the Frenchman who is unable to read the book as it is written in Spanish. The book describes the adventures of one of the Spaniard's ancestors, Alfonse Van Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski). Humorously, when the Spanish troops tell their commander "we are being surrounded" he only tells them "close the door, you are letting in a draft." Alfonse Van Worden is trying to pass the Sierra Morena Mountains of Spain in the 18th century on his way to Madrid. But his passage is no simple task, as ghosts, gypsies and inquisitors complicate his voyage. On the hillside is an inn that is cared for by people who too afraid to spend the night there themselves. Van Worden disregards the superstitious people, only to be taken to a basement of the inn by a mysterious woman. In the basement, he meets two beautiful Moorish princesses that want him to be their husband, but quickly make him drink from a chalice made from a human skull. He wakes up on the hillside some distance from the inn near two hanging men with many skulls strewn about the ground.

When Van Worden wakes up, he makes his best effort to continue to Madrid, but ends up meeting a number of people and is always delayed. The people he meets tell him their story, and the people in the story tell their story also. Like a nesting egg, the movie becomes a story in a story in a story. The stories interlink and overlap, each filling us in with details the others where not aware of. While it nearly resembles a horror with creepy ghosts and ghouls, the story is also amusing and funny with curious tales of exploits and adventures. The Saragossa Manuscript also has en erotic side with gorgeous women at every turn. While parts of the story resemble a horror, the rest is like a romance or even a comedy. The Saragossa Manuscript is a sophisticated film brimming with mystical and occult elements.

Although Russian propaganda would have us believe that only criminals were sent to Siberia, this simply isn't true. Russia has been sending Poles to Siberia for over two hundred years - and as recently as 1940 in the early part of World War II. Although they where exiled for many reasons, it was basically anyone that was deemed a threat to the Russians. Along with them came their families, so women and children were also imprisoned in the frozen wasteland.

Polish films that touch upon the issue of sybiracy (Polish exiles sent to Siberia) are extremely rare. Anything that would put Russia in a bad light was sure to be discouraged (or outright forbidden) during the Soviet occupation of Poland, so until recently it was impossible to touch this topic. But interestingly enough, there is a film made before the war about the Siberian experience. To Siberia (Na Sybir), directed by Henryk Szaro in 1930, is remarkable and worth watching because of the subject it addresses.

The film begins with a man giving us some historical context, but from there just about the rest is a silent movie, which may take some patience for today's audiences. However, Na Sybir stands out compared to other Polish films from the 1930s as one of the most exciting and suspenseful I have watched. There are a couple action scenes, such as a shootout and a chase scene, which make the film very suspenseful. So while we may have to read a screen of text to see what they are saying, this film is worth the effort.

The story takes place in 1905 and shows us a glimpse of an earlier Russian occupied Poland. After the assignation of the Governor-General, the Russian authorities in Warsaw are bent on finding the conspirators. Ryszard (Adam Brodzisz) is a Polish patriot that is considered a terrorist to the Russians and a hero to the Poles. He manages to find time to fall in love with a woman named Rena before being caught. The Russians know he was part of the plot, but do not know exactly how much he was involved, so he is sentenced to exile in Siberia. But his sweetheart Rena doesn't stand still while he is sent away, so she follows him to Siberia.

There is something dreadful in the whole idea of sending people to some icy prison. I have sympathy for the men, women and children that were doomed to starvation, disease, and the harsh conditions of Siberia. Many of them were true Polish patriots and this loss should not be forgotten. Those who made it back to Poland and didn't perish equally amaze me.

Sound of the Desert (Glos Pustyni) is a romance with action and drama. The movie is exotic in a way as it takes us to an unusual place. The story is set in beautiful North Africa. The setting itself is striking with its cobblestone paths and unique architecture; the vegetation is breathtaking as the palm trees and unusual cactuses are quite a sight; and there are sand dunes in the background of all of this, which adds a romantic feeling to the movie.

The opposing sides in the film are the French Foreign Legion and a free tribe led by Sheik Abdullah, who terrorizes caravans that pass though the deserts he controls. After Abdullah captures a legionnaire the drama really begins. The Sheik's wife, Dzemila, takes pity on him and frees him. But she takes it a step further and decides to leave with him and even falls in love with her husband's enemy. Now, the Polish angle to the story is that the Legionnaire is a Pole.

Although the love smitten Dzemila follows her soldier with hungry eyes, her new life isn't exactly a step up. Her new life isn't as romantic as she may have envisioned it as she now has to work as a dancer to get by. Without giving away the plot, I can say there is trouble brewing from the beginning.

Just as the life is Dzemila has a tragic side, so does the actual life of the actress that plays her, as Nora Ney's film career did not resume after the war. Nora was a silent era star so she did well with this role that in which she had to communicate so much with facial expressions. However, Nora wasn't able to find her place with the next transition in Polish cinema when it became serious and an outlet for healing the wounds Poland and its people endured during the war.

As you may know, Polish cinema in the 1930s was family friendly and modest; there wasn't any nudity and violence was minimal. Although Voice of the Desert complies with these standards, it also comes close to the edge of acceptability and may have raised some eyebrows at the time with a seductive belly dance scene.

Glos Pustyni was directed by Michal Waszynski in 1932. It should be mentioned that Eugeniusz Bodo wrote the screenplay, dialogue and also played the role of Sheik Abdullah. Bodo and Waszynski were co-owners of the film company BWB, which made Glos Pustyni.

Polish director Jerzy Hoffman brings one of the world's most decisive battles to film in 1920 Bitwa Warszawska (The Battle of Warsaw). This 2011 film has special effects galore and happens to be the first Polish movie made in 3D. It evokes feelings of a historic epic and is teeming with the best Polish actors (and even a few Russian actors too).

Poland just resurfaced on the map in 1918 after 123 years of being wiped off the map by her neighbors, but trouble is never too far away. Thankfully, Poland has strong leaders like Jozef Pilsudski (Daniel Olbrychski), Jozef Haller (Jacek Poniedzialek) and Boleslaw Wieniawa-Dlugoszowski (Boguslaw Linda) that are able to defend her from the Soviet invaders that would like to see socialism across all of Europe. There only stands one thing in the way from spreading socialism across the world: Poland.

1920 Bitwa Warszawska tries to balance spoon-feeding us historical details that give the story context with the personal side of the war by showing us how the war affected the lives of a newlywed couple. Jan Krynicki (Borys Szyc) marries her girl Ola Raniewska (Natasza Urbanska) just before he is sent out to war. While the frame of the story is a romance, it doesn't develop this part of the story too greatly as there is so much other things that need to be shown. The film takes on a lot in a short amount of time, so it could have easily been at least an hour longer to develop the details in greater depth, but then some would complain the film is too long.

Jan is seemingly sympathetic to socialistic ideas, which gets him in trouble with his fellow soldiers, but ends up saving his life as well. Jan is cured of his sympathy when he sees firsthand the doubletalk and absurdity that come with socialism, convincing him that he must do everything to stop the Soviets. We see both many forms of Soviet propaganda pushing socialism and Polish patriotism that attempts to stir every emotion among its people to stand up to the coming tide of Russian assault.

Although there are many Poles apathetic to what is happening, as they would rather not mix with politics knowing that things can change too quickly and being on the wrong side means death, many do all they can to help with the ongoing war. While Ola worries for her husband's safety, she decides to help by joining the army and gives her heart and soul into defending Poland.

Blood and guts are not spared in the least, so war is by no means some glorious parade of brave men in uniform, but rather a chaotic hell in which one can loose one's life or limb at any moment. While there are many skirmishes and clashes of forces throughout the film, it really all leads up to the big fight at the end. The battle doesn't look miraculous save for its outcome, as it really is just a slaughter, with both sides having its people massacred.

Some women look for love in all the wrong places when it is right in front of their nose. Even worse, some gals waste their time and energy with someone that is just a plain satyr in disguise. Randka w ciemno (Blind Date) is a story about the difficulties in finding love from a woman's point of view.

Majka (Katarzyna Maciag) is a cute young woman, but awfully dumb when it comes to judging guys. She is broken hearted over an older man named Cezary (Bogoslaw Linda) that dumped her for another woman. Sure, Cezary was married, but her positive outlook overlooked such things. Majka's friends want to help her out so they enter her into a dating game show. Lucky Majka is not only selected to be on the show out of the other applicants, but is even chosen by the guy out of the two other women. Their prize is a week-long trip to France on their blind date. It turns out the contestant is someone she already knows and doesn't like as he sets off her creep alert, so maybe she isn't so lucky after all. But Majka being who she is, starts to get charmed by him on their trip together and opens herself up to trouble.

I was able to correctly predict what will happen by only watching the first five minutes, so it is absolutely impossible to give away the plot more than the film itself does. Even the poster art for the film (DVD case cover) also gives away the story, but there is also something misleading there, so at least that builds some false expectations to throw us off a bit.

Although the package considers this movie a comedy, I do not. There was almost nothing in the movie I found funny and I only lightly chuckled once (and the person I watched it with didn't laugh at all). I would consider this a romance and a story about a woman looking for love. Overall, I think most of the story is tragic and Majka's story is a very realistic one. Her tale is so sad because there really are some women that are a poor judge of character and end up with someone who is not who they appear to be (and some guys are just so devious that they do not hesitate to do whatever it takes to fool others). But beyond the tragic part, there is the positive side to the story that you will just have to find out for yourself.

Other than what we experience firsthand, just about everything else in life we see the ending before we know how it got to that point. While starting a movie with its end is not a novel idea, it still adds something unique to a story. In some cases, like with Trzy Minuty. 21:37, it really adds to the suspense. Trzy Minuty. 21:37 isn't entirely shown in reverse, as it skips around a little with the sequence of the story. While this may seem a little annoying for some viewers, this film is a powerful drama that attempts to make us think deeper about life in general so it is worth it.

There aren't too many characters in this story and they are all a degree or two away from each other. The first person we get to know is the guy who snapped and has had enough of the injustices of the world. Although we only learn a little about him throughout the entire film, he is key to all that happens. There are several sub-stories to the film, which are connected. And there is no better subject for a Polish film than the subject of movies itself, so this movie is also about a film director.

The film director (Krzysztof Stroinski) is broken hearted as his latest wife just walked out on him. His typical way of dealing with this situation is by drinking, making it impossible for him to function. His producer wants him to make another movie, that will star an English actress, so he hires him an English teacher (Agnieszka Grochowska). The director becomes enamored with her despite their age and them just meeting. The director's daughter, who is pregnant, is about the same age as the English teacher. When the director goes to meet the father of his grandchild (Boguslaw Linda), the story takes another surprising twist.

I consider Trzy Minuty. 21:37 to be one of the best Polish movies of 2010, and very possibly the best Polish drama of that year. Trzy Minuty. 21:37 is directed by Maciej Slesicki, whose other well known films include Tato (1995) and Sara (1997). If anything, Trzy Minuty. 21:37 might make you think about life, appreciate what you have and see the small events in life are all connected. While life isn't always fair, there are also some moments when we see a greater power at work that brings a little justice to the world.

Ciacho is a comedy about a group of siblings that help each other. At no time do we actually take anything in this story serious. It is far too outlandish and absurd to think for a moment that any of this could actually happen. Ciacho is the type of film people watch for entertainment and to escape from reality for a couple of hours, but it isn't the kind of film everyone will enjoy.

The story is simple and stupid. Our heroine is a female cop named Basia (Marta Zmuda) who gets framed for a crime by someone very close to her. She has always been there to protect her brothers, but now that she is in trouble, they need to help her out. So Krzys (Marcin Bosak), Dawid (Tomasz Karolak) and Karolek (Pawel Malaszynski) go out and do all sorts of crazy stuff to track down who was behind framing their sister and freeing her. They aren't tough guys by any means, so any success they have has to do with good teamwork and dumb luck.

The relatively weak story is saved a bit by the acting. The siblings are played by young Polish actors with enough talent to make the story palatable to watch, but even they cannot save us from the ridiculousness of the story. Now obviously the story is supposed to be absurd, but parts of the outlandish elements practically border on being annoying.

There are a few scenes that are very funny, so as far as a being a comedy goes, at least it delivers some laughs. And quite unexpectedly, I have to say that Ciacho is probably just as much an action film as it is a comedy. The effects with all the action were great, but again it wasn't enough to elevate the film into something greater. Trying to copy a Hollywood style movie gets us just that and nothing more.

While Hollywood has a number of movies about angels, Polish cinema has a couple. Angel in Krakow is film about an angel named Giordano (Krzysztof Globisz) who is sent by his superiors on a mission to Earth to help its people. They believe Giordano is the perfect one to send to bring some cheer and hope to the people because he likes to spend most of his time mingling with those in purgatory. After getting instructed on the basics of the ways of the physical world and how to interact with people, he is sent on his way.

Although Giordano was supposed to get sent to Holland, a slightly jealous angel sends him to Poland instead -- giving him a more difficult task. Giordano takes it all in stride and is thrilled by everything before him. As Giordano interacts with people and the world they live in, which are all new experiences to him, we get quite a show. While his demeanor is a combination of naive, honest and innocent, Giordano also has this "just born yesterday" way about him that is hilarious. His actions are almost childlike, but give one pause to see how we take everyday things for granted. Furthermore, he seems like everything and his excitement over mundane things like a passing train, a cow eating grass on the side of the road or just riding in a car listening to music get funny reactions from those who observe him.

Without a doubt, Angel in Krakow is family-friendly and would rated "PG" by American standards. It is an enjoyable comedy, but also has a few serious moments, such as the ending which sets the stage for the sequel Angel in Love. Although the film is about angels, Heaven and God, it is not an overly religious film. If you are looking for a humorous film for the entire family, Angel in Krakow has something for everyone.

Deadly Recording (Zabojcze Nagranie) is a movie about making a movie, which is nearly a genre in Polish cinema (with films such as Superprodukcja, Polisz kicz project, Fenomen and Wajda's classics Wszystko na sprzedaz and Czlowiek z marmuru using this theme). Although these films all have one thing in common (being about filmmaking), they all take different twists. Zabojcze Nagranie is an action movie about an independent filmmaker named Kefir, who is played by Bodo Kox -- who really is an independent filmmaker in addition to an actor.

Our filmmaker begins to have trouble when he accidentally records the murder of a woman and then becomes accused of being her killer. Kefir gets chased by the authorities and tries to clear his good name the best he can. Although the movie is brief, there are details that foreshadow the coming events so one has to watch very closely to take it all in (or pick them up on a second viewing). A lot of stuff happens in the 25 minutes of this short film so don't blink too often.

Although Deadly Recording feels a bit like a TV movie or B movie, it is a lot of fun. There are more than a few plot twists that keep us on our toes and guessing which direction things are heading next. In addition to the action, there are also a few parts I found very funny and are a nice touch. Besides writing and directing Deadly Recording, Ben Talar and Jakub Poltorak also have short cameo appearances in their movie too. If you are into world cinema or independent films, Zabojcze Nagranie will interest you. There isn't a dull moment in this story in a story so get ready for some intense viewing.

Blind Fate (Slepy Traf) is an action movie about mobsters that is probably different than any other movie about the mafia you have ever watched. The two goons in this movie have disabilities. The guy nicknamed Blind has periods in which he looses his sight, perhaps due to stress. His partner is called Pressure and doesn't speak; Pressure hands out cards that say everything he needs to communicate typed out on them. I was expecting a third guy that is deaf to complement them, but there wasn't one.

Blind is tired of the business and wants to get out, but he knows that it isn't going to be easy leaving his boss. Blind is a big Chuck Norris fan and has a special relationship with him -- Chuck actually appears to him giving his spiritual guidance. Although Chuck Norris (or actually his Polish look-alike Jacek Pieniazek) is in this movie, he is more of a guardian angel or adviser and not the main attraction in this action film. Blind wears a big cross and likes to quote a part of the Bible, so if a religious gangster is going to have a spiritual mentor, it might as well be Chuck Norris.

Blind Fate is an unusual action movie that is much harder to predict where the story is going than many other films so it is that much more suspenseful. Although most of the movie appears serious in tone at first, with the exception of a few parts that are clearly funny, it isn't as solemn if we look again. After all, just about everything I wrote so far doesn't sound usual or normal so the big picture is more entertaining than chilling.