Gatunek filmowy: drama

Karol, a talented and entrepreneurial 25-year-old, works part-time for his family business and runs his own promising company. When his father, an aviation instructor, dies in an accident, Karol has to take over the responsibility of taking care of his home and his mother. With his two best friends, he makes a very risky bet – he’s going to build an innovative airship. When big money appears on the horizon, the young visionary will quickly find out how many sacrifices have to be made to run a business. Karol will have to choose both his friends and his business partners very carefully. Will he succeed on his own terms?

The story is set in provincial Italy, in the Etruscan town of Volterra. Maria (Krystyna Janda), a Polish poet, Nobel Prize winner and moral authority, has been living there for years. The world of the protagonists turns upside down when they receive shocking news about a terrorist attack in Rome. Maria’s intransigence and her disregard for political correctness result in dramatic consequences.

Retired civil engineer Duszejko lives a secluded life in a mountain village close to the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. She is charismatic and eccentric, a passionate astrologer and a strict vegetarian.

One day her beloved dogs disappear. On a snowy winter’s night shortly afterwards she discovers the dead body of her neighbour and, next to it, deer tracks. More men die in a similarly mysterious way. All of them were pillars of the village community, and all were passionate hunters. Were these men killed by wild animals? Or has someone been provoked to pursue a bloody vendetta? At some point Duszejko herself comes under suspicion …

Pokot is set in a landscape of changing seasons; however, the wild beauty of the countryside cannot hide the corrupt nature, cruelty and stupidity of the people who live there. Deeply rooted in the reality of rural Poland, the film is as anarchic as its heroine, and boldly mixes genres – from humorous detective story to exciting eco-thriller to feminist fairy-tale.

The titular, metaphorical carousel, on which the characters in Robert Wichrowski’s new film are spinning, has little to do with a carefree amusement park attraction. The main protagonists of the story are only thirty when they must face some of the most difficult decisions of their lives. Rafał, Magda, Piotr and Natalia must decide what is truly important for them, and how much they are willing to sacrifice to achieve it. When two best friends fall in love with the same girl, their relation is put to a difficult test. Their friendship is measured against the love of a woman. Lies, used as a ‘lesser evil’, become a false escape. The story told by Robert Wichrowski, the film’s director, is a journey through human soul. It guides viewers through a complex world of the characters’ emotions, instead of providing easy answers. The protagonists are disillusioned with a world where human relations are limited to the use of communicators, social media and mobile phones. The film is a leading role debut for young actors depicting the main characters – Mikołaj Roznerski, Mateusz Janicki, Karolina Kominek and Maria Pawłowska. Małgorzata Zajączkowska, Ireneusz Czop and Aleksandra Mikołajczak appear in supporting roles. The visual aspect also plays a significant part in the film. The camera led by Adam Bajerski, a cinematographer whose work includes ‘Tricks’ and ‘Imagine’, closely follows the characters and their emotions. The movie contains music composed by Mikołaj Bugajak, a.k.a. Noon, a leading young Polish producer. The soundtrack collects songs by alternative bands and musicians, including Fern, Hatti Vatti, Random Trip, Ewa Abart and Marek Dyjak. This is the music of the generation which came into adulthood in the XXI century.