Venice Days review - KLEZMER by Piotr Chrzan

The Polish forest contains secrets about the past, secrets which are the central subject of KLEZMER, the directorial feature debut by PIOTR CHRZAN, which had its world premiere in the VENICE DAYS programme at the 72nd VENICE FILM FESTIVAL.
 
The film takes place in the delicate cultural context of a Poland during the course of the second world war in which Poles are encouraged to trade in Jews to German authorities in exchange for money or other earthly goods. This is the precised little known about aspect of the dramatic historical context which KLEZMER by PIOTR CHRZAN deals with, which marks his feature directorial debut. The historical examination inevitably draws on the staggering success of IDA by PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI, that dealt with a similar issue, but more seems an example of Polish cinema openly dealing with its historical context and using it as a starting point to develop themes that illustrate the human condition. 
 
In KLEMZER, the same thing happens in the form of the interactions between a number of characters, and an event that shapes the course of their day, as they stumble upon the body of a Jewish man on the brink of death. This situation leds them to having moral debates, but also talks of a more personal nature. Their conversations, some of which highlight to a certain extent the underlying ignorance of the people in the face of the evil of those times, to the point of it almost seeming absurdist and satirical a times, are essentially a driving force in the film that it its nature follows quite a theatrical structure. 
 
More than any other war drama, the film a times is unafraid to delve upon darkly comic grounds, much like HITCHCOCK's THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, which incidentally also had quite a similar plot.

 

The contrast such a theatrical structure creates with the more cinematic visuals, for which cinematography SYLWESTER KAZMIERCZAK is responsible. The whole film recounts the story of a couple that takes place in the course of the same day and the whole thing is also takes place outdoors in the distinctive Polish landscape of its forests, which is where the Jews took refuge during German occupation. Hence, this dark backdrop to the story is enhanced by the way in which the landscape is caressed by the camera movements, and even a smoky feel that makes the place feel eternal, timeless but also sinister. 

The drawback of the feature is that such a practice does become wearisome, and due to the theme and concept of the film, some of the more personal issues of the characters feel random or simply not interesting. This is also because it's hard to side with any of the characters, who are perhaps purposefully intended to remain at a distance from its viewers - a fact that does not play in KLEZMER's favour because there's so many of them. 

The pace is also not perfect, simultanously unable to convey the quietness of the film, or make it seem exciting, and sometimes cutting into the tension of each of the induvidual scenes and distracting from some interesting interactions between the characters. 

Despite this, one can sense that the film means well, and it remains quite interesting as well as venerable for highlighting a historical aspect that might, unsurprisingly, be little known about by the Polish audience as well as an international one.