An absorbing thriller coming from Poland ;people expecting an action movie, with chases,gangsters,gore, shootings ,etc, will be disappointed ; the investigations are trite and conventional and only matters in the last scenes. It is essentially a psychological drama ,close to Belgian Georges Simenon's novels.
The raison d'être of the film is its indictment of conjugal violence , a subject which is wildely talked about nowadays ; and although the first pictures show the perfect family : the son ,like other men and women, takes his oath when he becomes a young policeman ,following in his father's footsteps ,a father who reportedly enjoys a brilliant reputation in his job. A beaming deaf and dumb young sibling is sent by dad to get his reward .
A reward he deserves ? Soon one learns he's an alcoholic brute,who beats his wife who almost accepts her fate but whose son is not prepared to accept ; and professionally ,the father is not so admirable:doesn't he exert blackmail on his superior ,a corrupt cop who tries to prevent the rookie from indicting his own father ? A father who is a potential criminal?
Although the gist of the movie concerns the doomed family , it's a true film noir : the one really happy moment (apart from the love scenes at the beginning) is the fair where the brothers enjoy the bumper cars (to sweeten a harsh ending ,this scene is shown again before the final cast and credits).
The raison d'être of the film is its indictment of conjugal violence , a subject which is wildely talked about nowadays ; and although the first pictures show the perfect family : the son ,like other men and women, takes his oath when he becomes a young policeman ,following in his father's footsteps ,a father who reportedly enjoys a brilliant reputation in his job. A beaming deaf and dumb young sibling is sent by dad to get his reward .
A reward he deserves ? Soon one learns he's an alcoholic brute,who beats his wife who almost accepts her fate but whose son is not prepared to accept ; and professionally ,the father is not so admirable:doesn't he exert blackmail on his superior ,a corrupt cop who tries to prevent the rookie from indicting his own father ? A father who is a potential criminal?
Although the gist of the movie concerns the doomed family , it's a true film noir : the one really happy moment (apart from the love scenes at the beginning) is the fair where the brothers enjoy the bumper cars (to sweeten a harsh ending ,this scene is shown again before the final cast and credits).
