Špína ([Filth], 2017, Teresa Nvotová)

 Teresa Nvotová made several documentaries before she presented her first feature Filth. Her take of the drama unfolding in less than 90 minutes is also observing, without judging and empathy. The characters reveal themselves.

The film starts with a electroshock therapy. The next 50 minutes or so tell us, how 17-year-old Lena got there. At the beginning of the flash back Lena is an ordinary girl. Once in a while she skips classes and talks with her Róza about sex and how it feels to have an erected sticky penis in hand. They adore their math teacher Robo. Robo also looks after Lena's physically challenged brother and gives Lena extra lessons in her home. Things go wrong from here, when Robo gets physical and rapes Lena. He leaves her with the trauma. Next she is trying to commit suicide and then we meet her in a psychiatric ward. Things run fast, as Nvotová at this point is not very much interested in Lena's development. Most of the film deals with the scandalously bad state of the health system in  Slovakia. 

The psychiatric hospital is close to criminal neglect,the doctor in charge seems worse than nurse Ratched. What they therapy makes things worse. Lena's co-patient Iva was raped by her father, but the doctor doubts her story. Iva and Lena joke about different ways to commit suicide. When the doctor finally releases Iva, it is no longer a joke. She takes her life. 

Although Lena's mother has doubts, she believes the doctor that am electric shock would benefit Lena. We finally concentrate on Lena's story. Her mother insists that she is discharged. She returns back to some kind of normality. Scumbag Robo is forced to confess his crime, but will he have to pay for it. At the end Lena rejects a  boy, but we don't know if she does so because she now is an independent woman or because the scars on her soul prevent her from the commitments of a relationship.

Filth doesn't really know what it wants. The life in the psychiatric hospital are told in some detail. Nvotová uses real in-mates from psychiatric hospitals who play versions of themselves and real actors. Those scenes are directed very skillfully. The story of Lena is told in a rather sloppy way, more like "Last Time on Filthy" than showing the development, the inner conflicts and the final resolution. Now it is more like a two in one film.

6/10 

Marco effekten (2021, Martin Zandvliet)

 Filmene om Afdelig Q og Carl Mørck er rimelig populær og vellykket. Men bøgernes forfatter, Jussi Adler Olsen, var ikke begejstret. Man siger, at Nikolaj Lie Kaas som Mørck ikke faldt i hans smag. Det er nærliggende, at sammenligne de forrige film og kontrastere, hvad der fungerede godt før med den nye version. Men filmen skal stå på sine egne ben.

Lad os, om Marco effekten leverer en god film. Allerede mens titlerne kører, hører vi nogen ånde meget dyb. En ung mand står på kanten af et højhus og truer med at kaste sig ned. Mørck prøver, at tale ham fra det. Uden held. Manden styrter i døden uden at det tager særlig på Mørck. Han bliver dog hjemsendt for at sunde sig. - Vi klipper til et tog. En dreng er på vej mod Danmark. Han nyder turen, indtil han kommer til grænsen. Panikslagen gemmer  han sig på WC'et. Grænsepolitiet står med hunde (!) på perronen. Det er ikke helt ligegyldigt, om filmen skaber en genkendelig realitet eller om den foregår i et univers. Ja, det koster nok flere penge, at filme på Padborg station. Denne skæve version af Danmark irriterer fra starten.

Drengen har en side fra en dansk embedsmand på sig. Han forsvandt for fire år siden og der var anklager om pædofili. Noget for Afdeling Q. Carl Mørck kan ikke holde ud at være hjemme. Han gik heller ikke til Psykolog. I stedet for vil han hellere rode i andres lort. Så opklaringen kan gå i gang. I cirka en time skal vi dog se på arthouse-agtige nærbilleder af Mørck og hvordan snasker nikotin tyggegummi. Drengen er tavs og brikkerne fra puzzlet forbliver brikker. Det er nærmest ikke muligt, at afgøre, om filmen skal handle om noget.  

Efter en time flygter drengen og fører Mørck og hans team til bagmændene. Nu går det over stok og sten og i farten glemmer vi adskillige mellemregninger. Andre tråder bliver hel glemt. Sjusket editering eller bare dårlig manuskript? Det er forresten meget lidt overraskende, hvem der er skurken. 

Mørck er i denne version en sur midaldrende gnavpot med sociopatiske træk. Han er nærmest en tese. Ulrich Thomsen prøver at give sin karakter dybde, men han får ikke meget at arbejde med. Bipersonerne er i denne version kun kulisser. En fuser.

3/10

 

Dzień świra (2002, Marek Koterski)

 The "Day of the Wacko" has cult status in its homeland, but I first heard about it almost 20 years after its publication. I don't often laugh out loudly, while watching a film, but this was one of the few occasions. Dzień świra is definitely not a "knee-slapper". Is it a comedy or maybe rather an absurdist tragedy? 

Adaś, the sad wacko, uses most of his energy to be irritated about his neighbors, actually everybody who crosses his OCD routines. His egoism could be enough for a minor village. While his relations with other people is -hm - problematic, he tries to relate to his son, who is not very intellectually gifted (fragment from their review of the English language: "To be, fuck it, or not to be").  Although he tries intensely to avoid disturbances, there seems to be a secret conspiration to make his day as bad as possible.

This film would lose when the plot would be retold. It would sound rather flat. It has to be seen as a whole, with every  joke and hilarious idea. And what a firework it is. People outside Poland may not catch every allusion, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Marek Kondrat's deadpan acting is superb, the soundtrack - especially the distorted Chopin  is brilliant. And the titles inform, that no dog was kicked during the making of the film. Essential viewing.

9/10

A boring day in the neighbourhood

TV informs about important affairs

Mom's tomato soup is universal medicine

Advertisements for several unusual products

Evening Prayer