By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Starring: Bartosz Gelner | Katarzyna Herman | Marda Nieradkiewicz | Mateusz Banasiuk
Original language title: Plynace wiezowce
Country: poland
Year: 2013
Running time: 93
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2776106/combined
Bruce says: “Growing up in Warsaw film director Tomasz Wasilewski was exposed to the films of Krzysztof Kieslowski at an early age. While he does not see films such as THE DECALOGUE as a direct influence, he does feel that they are probably now part of his DNA. Certainly the concrete Warsaw landscape is a character in the films of both directors. The cars, garages and highways are also characters in FLOATING SKYSCRAPERS.
“Kuba (Mateusz Babasiuk) and Sylwia (Marda Nieradkeiwicz) are a young couple living with his mother Ewa (Katarzyna Herman) under what is best described as strained conditions. Ewa is between men so she is letting her son and his girlfriend split the rent; she is studying Japanese for no ostensible reason since her going to Japan is nothing more than a pipe dream. Ewa resents Sylwia and wants her to move out. Kuba is a swimmer, training for big time competition. Sylwia is a waitress in a swanky Warsaw restaurant. Kuba and Sylwia spend lots of time in bed which is fine for him. She wants more. One night Sylwia drags Kuba to an art gallery opening. He steps out on a terrace to smoke a joint and bang! A young man named Michal (Bartosz Gelner) joins Kuba for a smoke and it is more or less love at first sight.
“Having spent a great portion of his life in locker rooms, changing rooms and sporting events involving close contact with other boys and men, Kuba is totally taken by surprise by this encounter and the accompanying sexual arousal he is feeling. As both Michal and Kuba become more obsessive with their newfound relationship, those around them become bewildered and angry. In a particularly amusing scene Michal tries to come out to his family at the dinner table. His upper class family is too self-involved and too reserved to take much notice. Things are more turbulent in Kuba’s household where, his mother makes scenes and Sylwia develops numbness to a predicament she cannot control.
“With great cinematic choices and a well-developed script, director Tomasz Wasilewski keeps his film studiously channeled. He avoids sentimentality. The camera meanders at times which may bother some viewers – for me it is a superb device to create suspense and establish a foreboding mood, a means for letting the viewer know that Kuba and Michal’s romance is doomed. In addition, the film is well cast. The actors were rehearsed for five months before filming, a decision that paid off handsomely. The sex scenes are particularly real and effective.
“FLOATING SKYSCRAPERS is the first LGBT film from Poland, a country that has a notoriously grim record for gay bashing and general hostility towards gays and lesbians. One of the actors in a nude shower scene dropped out of the film when he learned about its subject matter; he feared for his life. 5 cats
“(FLOATING SKYSCRAPERS screened at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.)”