Jason says:
“Krzysztof Skonieczny seems to want the audience to assume the worst in
HARDKOR DISCO, although he and co-writer Robert Bolesto are very
careful not to tip us off completely as to what it all means. Which,
combined with the very precise way that Skonieczny goes about putting
it together, it’s got the potential to be a great ‘no, this is what’s
really going on!’ movie.
“After a few scenes that are most definitely up to the audience to
interpret, a good-looking young man (Marcin Kowalczyk) – though one who
had been playing with a knife a few scenes earlier – approaches an
apartment and seems a little surprised when a young woman (Jasmina
Polak) answers the door. He follows her, scares off the guy she’s with,
and lets her bring him home, thus meeting Aleksander (Janusz Chabior)
and Pola (Angieszka Wosinska) at breakfast the next morning.
“Interspersed with all of this are old videos of a young girl, possibly
Ola and possibly not. Is there something about her that would explain
why Marcin (the name he gives) would be coming to Warsaw to kill
Aleksander & Pola? Possibly. Skonieczny and his cohorts drop enough
hints that the viewer can continue to refine their theories throughout
the film without often contradicting whatever is going on in the
viewer’s head – or, at least, that’s how it worked for me. That’s a
delicate business; too often it can lead to audience frustration as
filmmakers seem to go out of their way to give information, but
Skonieczny just plays things close to the vest in a way that seems
natural and invites the viewer to collaborate.
“Much of that falls on Marcin Kowalczyk, whose namesake character is
the one whose expressions we must project meaning to. What he does
that’s especially interesting is to keep the audience guessing how much
Macin-the-character is acting; he really does give off the vibe of
someone a parent might both hope and believe their troubled daughter
would bring home, and there are looks on his face that suggest this is
more his natural state than the one capable of quick violence when
necessary. It gives him a great sort of hero/villain ambiguity, and
makes the audience wonder him and Ola pairing off might be good for the
pair.
“The audience doesn’t see quite as much of Jasmina Polak as Ola, but
what it does see is pretty good; there’s a volatile streak to the
character that Polak keeps in check; she seldom seems outright
self-destructive. She makes us believe that things with Marcin can move
this fast without making Ola look the fool or unstable. She spars
nicely with Janusz Chabior and Angieszka Wosinska as her parents. You
can catch their basic personalities in about a minute; they seem like
they’ve aged well at the expense of others.
“With not a whole lot of exposition to give, Skonieczny and his crew
carry a lot of the rest of the film’s weight with style, and for a
small movie, it looks incredibly good. The opening sequence of Marcin
wandering a defunct amusement park is just the first of several times
location is used to great advantage, and several scenes are shot in
such a way that roads and valleys seem to extend deep into the screen.
Skonieczny and his cinematographer pull off a couple of shots that
alert viewers to pay attention to details by their trickiness, such as
a breakfast shot head-on with reflections in the background that
nonetheless hides the camera.
“Because of the way this film is put together, reactions are likely to
vary wildly both as to its quality (I’ve certainly lacked the patience
for movies like this before and hated them for it) and when discussing
what it’s about. But talking about just where HARDKOR DISCO is going is
a great way to follow it up, and inspiring a spirited discussion is a
good result. 4.25 cats
“Seen 18 September 2014 in Alamo Stafford South Lamar #7 (Fantastic
Fest, DCP)” |
