Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 26 Jun & Cineworld, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Jun
Krzysztof Skonieczny / Poland / 2013 / 87 mins
It’s often said that everything happens for a reason, and this is especially true in cinema. Audiences often bear witness to the most horrific acts, but there is always the assumption that even the most evil of characters has some impetus for their actions.
Yet though it is obvious from the opening moments of Hardkor Disko what the cold-blooded Marcin’s (a chilling Marcin Kowalczyk) intentions are, his motivations remain murky. Perhaps surprisingly, this foreshadowing of what is to come only serves to heighten the tension as director Krzysztof Skonieczny takes his time to let events unfold. Meanwhile flashbacks and grainy home videos hint obscurely at a past that must surely have led to the moment when Marcin turns up at a strange family’s apartment with a concealed knife.
Hardkor Disko is, therefore, a study in anticipation and mystery. The near-monochrome palette heightens the sense of foreboding, and the mundane sounds of dripping water, deep breaths and rustling grass are amplified to threatening intensity. There are a few scenes of brutality, but the worst violence is saved for the audience’s emotions.
A deliberately slow-paced and drawn-out film whose ambiguity may not play well with those looking for an adrenaline rush, Hardkor Disko remains a compelling, if slightly confusing, psychological thriller.