Directed by:
Wojciech SmarzowskiCinematography:
Krzysztof PtakComposer:
Mikolaj TrzaskaCast:
Arkadiusz Jakubik, Marian Dziedziel, Kinga Preis, Eryk Lubos, Robert Więckiewicz, Bartlomiej Topa, Krzysztof Czeczot, Mariusz Jakus, Piotr Glowacki (more)Plots(1)
The Dark House has been called a "Polskie Fargo" but this film is darker and more twisted than anything the Coen Brothers have dreamed up. Set in Communist Poland during the Fall of 1978, this is a drama with pitch black humor. An accidental traveler stops and stays overnight at a farm house in a remote rural area. Soon he and his hosts, a farmer and his wife, become good friends. The evening ends in tragedy. Simultaneously, the story of a police investigation into these tragic events is unfolding, as officers attempt to solve the mystery of what happened on that night. For some of the investigators, uncovering the truth is not as important as hiding their own secrets. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (2)
A strange piece of existentialism, where for the better part of the film nothing happens. You observe various characters who are supposed to make you feel that they are the genuine selection of the Polish characteristics of human thinking plus it is set in the typical Eastern setting, where there is a shortage of everything except vodka. It certainly is interesting when it comes to discovering the Polish socialist soul, however, from the filmmaking point of view, it is hard to finish the film without getting drunk just from the amount of vodka that is being consumed in it.
()
The Dark House is a masterfully written and filmed, extremely critical portrayal of social and moral depravity in the era of communist mind-fuckery. From absurd humor that your mind will struggle to process, to absolute disgust – at least for a viewer who comes from the Eastern Bloc and knows that all of this was once reality. The austere television visuals and psychological intimacy of the subject matter evoke a stage play, which the director brilliantly transforms into a sophisticated film puzzle with two narrative planes, which in the end results in an almost alarming caricature. Yes, I am really giving five stars to a Polish film with TV-like visuals full of spineless drunkards. The director doesn’t want us to feel for the main character. Instead, he walks all over us with a black cloud of social depravity, even letting a new life come out of it. In other words, The Dark House is magnificent.
()