Last Floor (2013) User Reviews

Shows Promise

[silvio-mitsubishi · 7/10 · 14 August 2021]

A tight thriller about an increasingly mentally ill Polish army officer and the effects of his paranoia on his family. A central plot McGuffin about corruption in commercial use of a military facility is never fully explored; the Captain believes he has found proof but loses his job at around the same time and begins his spiral of suspicion and frightening persecution theories.

This lack of resolution becomes a theme. A priest might or might not have led the Captain to a certain view; other officers might be conspiring to force him out if his job; his wife might be cheating, his daughter slipping into delinquency; we primarily (but not exclusively) see things through the Captain's eyes.

Pacing is a weakness. The descent from normal life into social isolation and paranoid behaviour happens quickly, but the middle third feels too slow as a result, before a rushed ending. There is a strong theme of First Brigade military identity, with songs and drunken parties, but no development of the Army idea - the presence of a model yacht could imply a marine ethic, a firing range is mentioned, but the Captain's job is not defined and the only reference to operational activity is a mention of "those reports", the laziest meme in cinema at the moment.

I have seen a few Polish films recently and this stands out as the most professional and mature. It avoids passing judgment, and all main characters are portrayed in sympathetic ways. We find ourselves caught up in the plight of the wife and the children, even feeling a little concern for the Captain in spite of his nasty world view. Indeed, we have little way of knowing that this view predates his illness other than a comment the older son made to his teacher. A sensitively handled and insightful film about serious illness.

Polish Falling Down

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 13 May 2021]

Another film speaking of the collapse of a man because of the world where he lives in. In the US film industry, there was Michael Douglas in FALLING DOWN and Russel Crowe in UNHINGED, individuals crushed by the modern society and who decide to fight in a battle lost in advance. Depresing, gloomy, disturbing too. The shocking line here is that you may feel empathy for the lead character, despite his nearly apology for Holocaust. We watch here a family wreck. Not for all audiences.

This is a cynical story but one that is still enjoyable and thrilling.

[office-114-779804 · 19 November 2014]

This dark, paranoid thriller from Tadeusz Krol tells the story of an upstanding military officer and family man, whose accurate suspicion of the institution he has served all his life, leads to his mental state deteriorating and ending in tragedy. Janusz Chabior delivers a chilling portrayal of Captain Derczynski, a proud nationalist, who, after being told he is being transferred and demoted from his base, tries to expose corruption and protect his family from the evil forces he perceives. As his actions become more desperate and out of control we assume his judgement is growing ever cloudier, until it becomes clear his paranoia is justified.

At first Derczynski is hard to sympathise with, insisting on passing on all his beliefs and habits to his two young sons and showing displeased indifference towards his teenage daughter. He sneers at her enthusiasm to go on a school trip to see a holocaust movie despite her fear of being ostracized from her peers. However, we also see his commitment to his family through some warm moments of father and son's bonding and his eventual capitulation in the face of imploring from his wife and daughter. His duty to protect his family also comes to the fore when an old boyfriend of his wife's turns up unexpectedly and threatens to disrupt the family equilibrium.

From here on begins the extra security measures and growing paranoia in the captain. We witness him growing more concerned about the dangers of the outside world and, in turn, his family increasingly fearing his behaviour. Matters come to a head when Derczynski is compelled to go to extremes and things start to turn ugly.

On the one hand the film seems to romanticize it's main character's traditional and nationalist convictions, but on the other, condemns them through the depiction of an institution crushing one it's most ardent supporters. It invokes disapproval of homophobic and anti-semitic notions held by the captain, suggesting that such an outdated view of the world is responsible for his downfall.

As the film goes on we are treated to lots of darkly lit, claustrophobic scenes inside the family home which becomes like a prison, it's inhabitants becoming hostages. The camera begins to close in on Chabior a lot more and you can feel his world coming down on him. Eventually it is the intervention of another tradional institution, in the local priest, that triggers the denouement.

The sombre ending neither restores faith nor offers optimism, showing how one man is no match for the powers that be. A distrust of the authorities and sense of helplessness are all that is left. This is a cynical story but one that is still enjoyable and thrilling.

Review by Stuart McWalter for the Play Poland Film Festival.