Feature – Poland/USA – UK Première

Showing @ Cameo 1, Fri 29 Jun @ 21.15 & Cameo 1, Sat 30 Jun @ 18.45

Anka Sasnal, Wilhelm Sasnal / Poland / 2011 / 77 min

There are some places, like some people, who are already dead, but just don’t know it. The Polish hamlet in Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal’s film is one such place. Only petty cruelties, drink and small acts of destruction are signs of life. Even death and disappearance are simply inconveniences or opportunities for theft and vandalism.

That this film was partly sponsored by an art gallery shouldn’t really surprise, as much of what happens on screen is more like 19th-century portraiture than film. The directors’ favouring of the static long shot makes for beautiful tableaux, but its overuse slows an already glacial film down to a virtual halt. Add in a deliberate lack of characterisation and dialogue and there’s little here for even the most hardened cineaste to really enjoy. What this film does capture perfectly is the mood of a small, decaying, rural existence, but is unlikely to be enough to capture an audience’s attention even for the short running time. There are many films that work as both art and cinema, but this film feels unlikely to manage that delicate balancing act.