So, I watched this movie in Polish because... I'm Polish, but my review is in English. Btw, the Netflix English subtitles were full of errors... I'm shocked how simplified and misspelled they were. Anyway, on to the review:
If you're looking for the predictable, already seen this before, with the plot quality of a Hallmark Xmas movie, but you're looking for something set during WWI, look no further! A love story between 1 woman and 2 men, one appears to have died, so she falls for the other (typical), and then the one who supposedly died returns, look no further! Also there's a slew of other characters who don't matter at all.
I checked the writers on this movie and I'm pretty sure it started like this: The 'supporting writers' were the main writers to start the plot. The movie starts interestingly enough, I guess. And then... at about the 30min mark, the movie loses, in my opinion, any form of artistic authenticity in terms of plot value, character development, sequencing, context, and authenticity; I almost started to laugh at the end with how kitschy it was. My hunch is that Gajewski, the director, was basically like 'no, we need to simplify this for lowest common denominator' at about the 30min mark... And so this is the fine rotten tomato of a movie we got thereafter.
Why do I say this? Ok, so let me pick one of the 20 or 30 'scenes' that I can chose from that had no value: So, there's a scene where the main female character is set on a mission with her friend, ... the other female character. Before they set off on the mission, the 'other female' meets up with the 'twinkle in her eye' soldier, to let him know she likes him. Anyway, so one would think 'ok... so I guess this is important.'. Well, long story short, the 'other' female character gets killed 5 minutes later (movie time), and the soldier, seeing his dead 'amore', starts running at fortified positions out of anger and gets shot himself. WOW. Who wrote this? Scorsese? Polanski? Tarantino?
*Shall I also say that as these women were -crossing the bridge to plant explosive (ooohhh we didn't know of this), they had to get past the russian guards, and have enough time to get down the side of the bridge, plant the explosives firmly, run the wire up to the base of the bridge, and hop back up to the bridge, all within 1 minute. (this is besides the point).
Just to let you know, this movie is riddled with events that have little to no connection or significance to the main plot, or character development. You are introduced a character, and then think 'ok, someone new', and then they either disappear in the plot or die; and have no overall significance.
The other part that was annoying was how the film did not show progression of time/place very well at all. One day they legion is in a forest, the next in a city, the next somewhere else. There's no 'helpful narration' which is a technique used in some movies as if they were written as a memoir, to help the person watching understand what's going on and why there's a change. In one scene the legion is supposedly near the Polish city of Lodz, the other of the two main 'male characters' is recruited into the Uhlan cavalry by order (because... you know, I guess a foot soldier is born with mastering the Uhlan/cavalry technique), and then 2 minutes later (movie time), it goes right in the prep for the Charge of Rokitna... which took place near Kiev; pretty far from Lodz. How did they get there? Ooohhh, details details my dear.
In a few words. The whole film is discombobulated, predictable, and with a Mad-Lib generated plot. A complete waste of excellent cinematography (possibly the only redeemable value). How this movie got nominated for best movie in Poland 2019 is beyond me; unless the next best movie was a 2 hour film about watching paint dry. The movie had a chance to follow elements of "Chekhov's gun" style storytelling (given it's national importance of an event, and all the poetry/literature borne from it, and national pride, and decent budget), but it fell flat and kind of even a mockery in itself. To make such a simplistic and little thought-through movie about events leading up to the revival of Poland as a state... is a mockery of it all.
***on an interesting note, Fabjanski has the same eyes and general look as a young Daniel Olbrychski... make one wonder?
If you're looking for the predictable, already seen this before, with the plot quality of a Hallmark Xmas movie, but you're looking for something set during WWI, look no further! A love story between 1 woman and 2 men, one appears to have died, so she falls for the other (typical), and then the one who supposedly died returns, look no further! Also there's a slew of other characters who don't matter at all.
I checked the writers on this movie and I'm pretty sure it started like this: The 'supporting writers' were the main writers to start the plot. The movie starts interestingly enough, I guess. And then... at about the 30min mark, the movie loses, in my opinion, any form of artistic authenticity in terms of plot value, character development, sequencing, context, and authenticity; I almost started to laugh at the end with how kitschy it was. My hunch is that Gajewski, the director, was basically like 'no, we need to simplify this for lowest common denominator' at about the 30min mark... And so this is the fine rotten tomato of a movie we got thereafter.
Why do I say this? Ok, so let me pick one of the 20 or 30 'scenes' that I can chose from that had no value: So, there's a scene where the main female character is set on a mission with her friend, ... the other female character. Before they set off on the mission, the 'other female' meets up with the 'twinkle in her eye' soldier, to let him know she likes him. Anyway, so one would think 'ok... so I guess this is important.'. Well, long story short, the 'other' female character gets killed 5 minutes later (movie time), and the soldier, seeing his dead 'amore', starts running at fortified positions out of anger and gets shot himself. WOW. Who wrote this? Scorsese? Polanski? Tarantino?
*Shall I also say that as these women were -crossing the bridge to plant explosive (ooohhh we didn't know of this), they had to get past the russian guards, and have enough time to get down the side of the bridge, plant the explosives firmly, run the wire up to the base of the bridge, and hop back up to the bridge, all within 1 minute. (this is besides the point).
Just to let you know, this movie is riddled with events that have little to no connection or significance to the main plot, or character development. You are introduced a character, and then think 'ok, someone new', and then they either disappear in the plot or die; and have no overall significance.
The other part that was annoying was how the film did not show progression of time/place very well at all. One day they legion is in a forest, the next in a city, the next somewhere else. There's no 'helpful narration' which is a technique used in some movies as if they were written as a memoir, to help the person watching understand what's going on and why there's a change. In one scene the legion is supposedly near the Polish city of Lodz, the other of the two main 'male characters' is recruited into the Uhlan cavalry by order (because... you know, I guess a foot soldier is born with mastering the Uhlan/cavalry technique), and then 2 minutes later (movie time), it goes right in the prep for the Charge of Rokitna... which took place near Kiev; pretty far from Lodz. How did they get there? Ooohhh, details details my dear.
In a few words. The whole film is discombobulated, predictable, and with a Mad-Lib generated plot. A complete waste of excellent cinematography (possibly the only redeemable value). How this movie got nominated for best movie in Poland 2019 is beyond me; unless the next best movie was a 2 hour film about watching paint dry. The movie had a chance to follow elements of "Chekhov's gun" style storytelling (given it's national importance of an event, and all the poetry/literature borne from it, and national pride, and decent budget), but it fell flat and kind of even a mockery in itself. To make such a simplistic and little thought-through movie about events leading up to the revival of Poland as a state... is a mockery of it all.
***on an interesting note, Fabjanski has the same eyes and general look as a young Daniel Olbrychski... make one wonder?