*Might be some minor spoilers in this review.
An angel is given a man's life. Sounds like an idea that provides some innocent humor and a possibility to show some aspects of the human life we are too close to see. Even with a fantasy perspective like this, it is still not so easy to be original. I would even say, that if one makes a fantasy movie with superpowers, fairies or angels, it is always a disappointment if the film fails to show fresh ideas. In this case, the originality is, should I say, so-so.
I guess this movie is more of ordinary drama than fantasy. It is mostly universal in its thematics, but at least some jokes are rather Polish - even Adam Malysz is, though utterly popular in Poland and quite well-known in central and northern Europe, probably never heard of in the rest of the world. This is still a movie worth international distribution. On the other hand, most of the people willing to see rather low-budget flicks from eastern Europe prefer movies with liberal values, and in this one the happiness is found from conservative and somewhat selfish ways. It is obvious that a lot of things have changed in Poland and the rest of the eastern Europe recently. Looking at the movies produced there nowadays, they quite often seem to show the message that not so much has changed after all - corruption, evil politicians, prostitution and all the dirt is still there, just more for everyone to see. Some interesting perspectives have been shown on these subjects, but not in this case. This is a feel-good movie, and as it is, I should accept it, but as it only made me laugh a couple of times, I must admit I expected more. Social commentary is kept to the minimum, and I just wonder how an unemployed man can go for a quality shrink and a luxury prostitute. Well, never been to Poland myself, so I wouldn't really know, but as these scenes are only slightly amusing, they seem somewhat pointless.
Altogether, I wasn't at all bored watching this movie. There are no serious flaws, and the atmosphere is good. The amateurish nature mentioned in the summary is not really a problem, and it mainly applies to the script and partly to the cinematography. The script seems to have been produced combining two different plot lines, and it is not completely successful. Some important people just disappeared after an hour, and I would have wanted to see them again before the end.
The cinematography, when shooting in "heaven" obviously is only limited by imagination and certain religious principles one might have. I found the perspective in this movie somewhat boring and too closely related to our time and culture.
What more should I say? It was a decent experience, with a few amusing scenes, but I probably won't remember much after a month. Worth watching anyway, when there are limited possibilities to see something from Poland. From the recent Polish films that I have seen, I would still prefer "Tomorrow's Weather".
An angel is given a man's life. Sounds like an idea that provides some innocent humor and a possibility to show some aspects of the human life we are too close to see. Even with a fantasy perspective like this, it is still not so easy to be original. I would even say, that if one makes a fantasy movie with superpowers, fairies or angels, it is always a disappointment if the film fails to show fresh ideas. In this case, the originality is, should I say, so-so.
I guess this movie is more of ordinary drama than fantasy. It is mostly universal in its thematics, but at least some jokes are rather Polish - even Adam Malysz is, though utterly popular in Poland and quite well-known in central and northern Europe, probably never heard of in the rest of the world. This is still a movie worth international distribution. On the other hand, most of the people willing to see rather low-budget flicks from eastern Europe prefer movies with liberal values, and in this one the happiness is found from conservative and somewhat selfish ways. It is obvious that a lot of things have changed in Poland and the rest of the eastern Europe recently. Looking at the movies produced there nowadays, they quite often seem to show the message that not so much has changed after all - corruption, evil politicians, prostitution and all the dirt is still there, just more for everyone to see. Some interesting perspectives have been shown on these subjects, but not in this case. This is a feel-good movie, and as it is, I should accept it, but as it only made me laugh a couple of times, I must admit I expected more. Social commentary is kept to the minimum, and I just wonder how an unemployed man can go for a quality shrink and a luxury prostitute. Well, never been to Poland myself, so I wouldn't really know, but as these scenes are only slightly amusing, they seem somewhat pointless.
Altogether, I wasn't at all bored watching this movie. There are no serious flaws, and the atmosphere is good. The amateurish nature mentioned in the summary is not really a problem, and it mainly applies to the script and partly to the cinematography. The script seems to have been produced combining two different plot lines, and it is not completely successful. Some important people just disappeared after an hour, and I would have wanted to see them again before the end.
The cinematography, when shooting in "heaven" obviously is only limited by imagination and certain religious principles one might have. I found the perspective in this movie somewhat boring and too closely related to our time and culture.
What more should I say? It was a decent experience, with a few amusing scenes, but I probably won't remember much after a month. Worth watching anyway, when there are limited possibilities to see something from Poland. From the recent Polish films that I have seen, I would still prefer "Tomorrow's Weather".
