Starring: Krzysztof Konieczny
Directed by: Mateusz Okuła, Natalia Szmidt, Jan Frycz, Danuta Dolińska
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Krzysztof Skonieczny is back to directing feature films after a decade-long hiatus. The making of story crime series Ślepnąc od świateł (Blinded by the Lights, 2018) helped him to stay fit behind the camera in recent years, while earlier his incendiary and almost-edited-to the-beat-of-music debut Hardkor Disko (2014) left a mark on 2010s cinema from Poland.
Written by the Polish director himself, Skonieczny’s sophomore effort, Wrooklyn Zoo, is a modern Romeo and Juliet-like story that gravitates around the thwarted love between aspiring pro skateboarder Adam ‘Kosa’ (Mateusz Okuła) and fierce Roma girl Zora (Natalia Szmidt).
Wrooklyn Zoo is partially set in Los Angeles and boasts retired skater hero Toni Trujillo as a surprise guest in the cast — Trujillo appears as Kosa’s mentor living in the boy’s imagination. Most of the plot, however, takes place in Wrocław, the city in which Skonieczny was educated. The tormented sweethearts’ affair is opposed by Zora’s traditionalist and ghettoed community and later also by a neo-Nazi gang.
Cinematically speaking, Skonieczny is still not afraid of playing with fire. In fact, many scenes in his film Wrooklyn Zoo are engulfed in flames. In an interesting narrative tweak, the lovers’ grand-parents, one on each side, play a pivotal role in the story. Kosa’s grandfather Stanisław (Jan Frycz) and Zora’s grandmother (Danuta Dolińska) help the forbidden couple to rise above the hatred and fire that surrounds them.
As a filmic tale of cultural intolerance, Wrooklyn Zoo could easily be adapted for the stage. And yet, it shines as a breakneck valentine to Wrocław brimmed with outdoor shots framing many of the city’s landmarks. Intentionally or not, the electrifying skateboard sequence through the rooms of the National Museum in Wrocław ends up evoking the famous run through the Louvre in Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders (1963).
Film Reviewed by Giuseppe Sedia
Published by Kino Mania on January 24, 2025