Here are three films of the Main Competition of XIX Plus Camerimage!



The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick's latest picture is one of the most ambitious film efforts of uniting the physical beauty of human body with the unbearable lightness of the soul, that has been ever brought to the screen. By telling the story of a family governed by a very strict father (Brad Pitt), Malick reflects on human existence. He observes the formation of young boys' identities, he watches the emotional sinusoid of marital love, he looks upon the past through memories that tend to distort it. His vision wanders around to the beginnings of the universe, it also touches upon its ending, but it never gives any final answers. It barely suggests that there is a number of paths, and try to name a few of them. “The Tree of Life" is made of impressions - out of them one has to create his or her own story.

"The Tree of Life", courtesy of Monolith
Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography transforms Terrence Malick's thoughts and words into a visual poem. His framing astonishes with creativity and precise composition, but it also has this ephemeral quality that makes “The Tree of Life" more than just a film - a truly spiritual experience on the verge of faith and reason. It doesn't matter if Lubezki arranges a scene composed out of memories and sentiments, shoots a sequence based in the aseptic reality seen through the eyes of a man who cannot confront his numbness, or creates some fascinating otherworldly vistas - the cinematographer's artistry and maturity can be felt in every single shot of the film. Owing to his work, “The Tree of Life" is full of fleeting emotions like the miracle of birth, the underrated beauty of the human touch, the joy of discovering another secret of life or the awareness of the existence of something beyond human comprehension.

Polish Title: Drzewo życia
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Polish distributor: Monolith
Polish premiere: 10th June 2011

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The Mill and the Cross

When a great artist embarks on a journey to shoot a film about another great artist, the viewers can be sure that something original will be made. “The Mill and the Cross" is not only an impressive creation mirroring the reality that has long been gone (17th century Netherlands), but it is also Lech Majewski's reflection on the act of creation itself. Undertaking such a great challenge of transforming the beauty of Peter Bruegel's painting and the theoretical fascination with his works of art onto the silver screen, Lech Majewski has achieved something truly spectacular - he painted his film in front of the viewers' eyes. When we see Bruegel (Rutger Hauer) painting the reality that he sees with his eyes, we are also aware that the painter himself is just a mere figure in somebody else's picture. Each scene of “The Mill and the Cross" is filled with great respect for art, and the one-of-a-kind visuals.

"The Mill and the Cross", courtesy of ITI Cinema
To achieve the impression of painting a reality with a film camera instead of a paint brush, Lech Majewski and his cinematographer, Adam Sikora, have used the materials shot in different parts of the world, overlapped with each other via the use of CGI. In this way the film's texture mirrors Bruegel's painting which the director wanted to recreate as flawless as possible. The clouds from New Zealand merged with Polish sky and fragments of other countries' vistas. In one spectacular scene there is 147 of such “layers". The scraps of different realities were composed into creation of feeling of “being a part of the image", the experience that makes the dark cinema room a passage to another universe.

Polish Title: Młyn i Krzyż
Directed by: Lech Majewski
Cinematography: Adam Sikora, Lech Majewski
Polish distributor: ITI Cinema
Polish premiere: 18th March 2011

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Le Havre

Aki Kaurismäki's new story is both a moving social film and a delightful, imaginative fantasy. When the protagonist Marcel comes across a poor African immigrant kid, the best thing he would do is to look away and move forward. He decides to help him, though, which means welcoming a danger into his house, but also a possibility of experiencing real miracles. For the heroes of his story Kaurismäki have choosen people barely making the ends meet, individuals not being at home with the law and immigrants who want only to hide away from the police. But such characters serve the director to create a unique humanistic ballad, full of inexplicable charm and warmth. It is a film about people who are able to overcome their limitations and weaknesses when something more important than themselves comes up. “Le Havre" is a beautiful, reality-based fable that woos with eccentric humor and plausible characters.

"Le Havre", courtesy of Gutek Film
The visuals have always played an important role in Kaurismäki's films, emphasizing the correlation between the characters and their surroundings. This is also the case with “Le Havre". Timo Salminen, a permanent cinematographer of Kaurismäki, created a reality which is natural and vividly colorful at the same time. Although the film camera goes into poor apartments, empty wharfs and streets full of indifference, “Le Havre" has plenty of expressive colors that emphasize what the main characters are made of, and also accentuate the story's fairytale-like style. Quietly composed shots stress the desire to reject the need of hurry that is dictated by the western civilization's rules. And the perfectly lightened scenes, accentuating the honesty of the protagonists' faces, bring the story's infectious optimism into prominence.

Polish Title: Człowiek z Hawru
Directed by: Aki Kaurismäki
Cinematography: Timo Salminen
Polish distributor: Gutek Film
Polish premiere: 6th January 2012