The Promised Land

Lower than expectation!!!

My very first polish movie!! Had too much going on with too many characters for me to truly love it, but it was very good and the cast was lovely, particularly the chemistry between the three main actors. It's themes are not in the least bit subtle, but I doubt Wajda was going for subtle. Solid and appealing direction, I enjoyed the few oddball shots that livened things up here and there. There was a lot of dry humor in it, which I didn't expect at all going into it.

One of my favorite Wadja films so far. It has many of the attributes of Visconti's The Damned and Bertolucci's 1900, including a willingness to go over-the-top in presenting a nightmarish vision of corruption, but The Promised Land is a hell of a lot more entertaining, propulsed by a chugging narrative that doesn't let up until its inevitable climax and tragic postscript.

This is spectacular, but pretty confusing. There are numerous characters, the plot is quite complicated, and the pacing of the movie is such that you rarely get any time to stop and think about what's happening. While the characters are all excellently realized and superbly acted, their motivations were a bit up in the air for me sometimes. But that's probably just because I'm stupid. Wajda is an incredible director.