Starring: Marcin Czarnik, Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Piotr Nowak
Directed by: Wilhelm and Anna Sasnal
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Could the French Extremity label proposed by James Quandt be applied more generally to a certain type of European cinema? The sordid corporeality and violence for the sake of violence that has emerged in the Greek New Wave has also appeared in various other films across the continent. Perhaps Z daleka widok jest piękny (It Looks Pretty From a Distance) represents the archetype of a future Polish Extremity.
This haunting and ascetic feature was co-directed by Wilhelm Sasnal and his wife Anna. Sasnal, a graduate of Krakow’s Fine Art Academy, has been more closely associated with the international art scene than with cinema until now. It Looks Pretty From a Distance can be regarded as a close up of a Polish village, with its human specimens and scrapped cars abandoned halfway between Tarnów and Krakow. As the title suggests, the scenery is bearable only if observed from a safe distance.
The encomium to daily life in all of its banality developed by the visual artists of the now dissolved, Krakow-based Grupa Ładnie (Nice Group), to which Sasnal belonged, is reflected here. It is almost impossible to provide spoilers for It Looks Pretty From a Distance since the daily life of this rural community over one summer is recounted with almost no plot or dialogue. The sudden disappearance of one villager is the movie’s sole concession to traditional storytelling.
In a strange paradox, the deliberate banality of the film’s static scenes enhances its originality. The Sasnals’ debut feature works on the same gut level that Shōhei Imamura’s most visceral movies reach.
Originally published by The Krakow Post on May 02, 2012