I saw Sandcastles ('Zamki z piasku') at a private screening sponsored by Apple Computers, in Klub Ucho as part of the 29th Gdynia Film Festival. The director was present. Before the screening he asked for our patience, saying that we'll get as much from the movie as we put into it. A month later, I'm still thinking about this movie... so, I guess, I put in a good amount. It's a very, very slow moving film, but that forces us to think about what we are looking at (symbols and situations, or a man with a black cat on an deserted beach!) and it works with our memory. In fact, that's fitting, because the film is all about time and memory... and so many other things: like the big bang and Einstein's theories, existentialism vs. theology, conscious vs. unconscious, real vs. imagined. It is about so many things, and it raises so many questions that, at one point, I did not think it would be able to bring all these things together. It did, although in a very surreal way. Still, I walked out of the viewing not knowing what to make of it but, over time, I have grown very fond of it. It has grown in my memory. Excellent script, nice pictures, beautiful music. All together, a beautiful film... if you have the patience for it. 10 out of 10.
2 Reviews
After watching Sandcastles and Dustclouds...
filmreview0827 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Sandcastles has a flow to it that I appreciate in a good work of art. someone wrote a comment on IMDb regarding this film: "All together, a beautiful film... if you have the patience for it. 10 out of 10."
My response to that person who obviously liked it as much as I did, that if you have to think about patience then forget about these damned fine films here at the Tik and just subscribe to HBO or something and keep watching the crapola Hollywood keeps belching out.
Sandcastles has a pace. A decidedly slow one. But deliberate. Not linear but diffuse and yet focused at the same time. We are left wondering if the main character Getz has become "unstuck in time" or is having visions of the future or past - your guess is as good as mine.
Is there a grand scheme that has brought Getz to this point of not knowing who he was. We are given hints throughout the film such as his first? meeting with the enigmatic Karina in the book shop. She suggest things that had me believing she knows something about his current situation or possibly is playing a part in forming them.
But the film does not let you off easy here. It could be a mystery, or a drama, a love story suspense, thriller. It isn't. We do not know what part his search through the pages of books play in his future encounters because Getz believes at some point that he might be acting out somehow these fragments of stories he reads or that somehow these pages have imposed themselves onto his life.
There are moments in the basement? dwelling that are absurd or symbolic or something else. The man who wears the blast helmet to keep out the light. the piles of books the flooded floor & the bathroom scenes.
You can think this one to death and be miserable or just let it flow and enjoy the artistry of Filip Jan Rymsza and let is just pass by you. And I don't mean pass you by as in you don't get it. More like a passing train means a train has just passed by. Thinking about it won't change that fact. Take it in instead of pausing to contemplate.
So, I will watch this again in the future and then I will dissect and consider. The first time was poetic without over analyzing it.
My response to that person who obviously liked it as much as I did, that if you have to think about patience then forget about these damned fine films here at the Tik and just subscribe to HBO or something and keep watching the crapola Hollywood keeps belching out.
Sandcastles has a pace. A decidedly slow one. But deliberate. Not linear but diffuse and yet focused at the same time. We are left wondering if the main character Getz has become "unstuck in time" or is having visions of the future or past - your guess is as good as mine.
Is there a grand scheme that has brought Getz to this point of not knowing who he was. We are given hints throughout the film such as his first? meeting with the enigmatic Karina in the book shop. She suggest things that had me believing she knows something about his current situation or possibly is playing a part in forming them.
But the film does not let you off easy here. It could be a mystery, or a drama, a love story suspense, thriller. It isn't. We do not know what part his search through the pages of books play in his future encounters because Getz believes at some point that he might be acting out somehow these fragments of stories he reads or that somehow these pages have imposed themselves onto his life.
There are moments in the basement? dwelling that are absurd or symbolic or something else. The man who wears the blast helmet to keep out the light. the piles of books the flooded floor & the bathroom scenes.
You can think this one to death and be miserable or just let it flow and enjoy the artistry of Filip Jan Rymsza and let is just pass by you. And I don't mean pass you by as in you don't get it. More like a passing train means a train has just passed by. Thinking about it won't change that fact. Take it in instead of pausing to contemplate.
So, I will watch this again in the future and then I will dissect and consider. The first time was poetic without over analyzing it.
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