Kret

For his first feature film, French-Polish documentary maker Rafael Lewandowski has hit home. "La dette" (The Mole) is indeed an intelligent evocation of the Solidarity social movement as well as of the reassertion of authoritarian control of Poland by the Communist Party and Moscow (1980-1989). It also constitutes a precious contribution to the current national debate on those events that stirs Poland these days. But be reassured, "La dette" is no way theoretical, dogmatic or oversimplified, in other words boring. The scriptwriters (Lewandowski himself and Iwo Kardel) and the director must be credited for privileging the human factor on the one hand and bringing life and emotion to what could have been nothing but a dry message film on the other. Sure there is a thesis : have some Solidarity unionists betrayed Solidarity and if so, why haven't they been punished? Should they be exposed and prosecuted now or should a new leaf be turned? But, as important as the problem tackled are the characters, their feelings and relationships. The issue in not forced on them but is presented through them ; they quite rightly prevail. The backbone of the story is the bond that ties a son (Pawel) and his aging father (Zygmunt). The two men get on very well, all the better as Pawel regards his dad as a hero, who once helped his country become free. As a Solidarity fighter the latter even served a prison sentence. So imagine the shock he experiences when, back from a business trip to France with his father (where the two men buy second-hand clothes to resell them in their poverty-stricken country) the son finds out that his hero is under attack from the press for being a traitor. Rejection of such an idea comes first, then doubt sets in, slowly but surely. On his part, Zygmunt is shown refusing to fight back while eluding Pawel's investigation questions, which creates growing discomfort. The two men's feelings as well as their troubled relationships are analyzed with remarkable accuracy and, which makes it even better, always in cinematic terms. Action is privileged and culminates with a highly suspenseful sequence involving Pawel and former secret services general Stefan Grabek (Wojciech Pszoniak, fabulous). Informative and entertaining, emotionally deep, extremely well acted and constructed, "La dette" is an outstanding movie. An inspired scene concludes it shrewdly, avoiding to supply an easy answer to the questions asked. A real achievement from beginning to end.

Polish cinema seems unable to entirely reconcile itself with communism, still so deeply embroiled in uncovering the past, understanding it and trying to grasp the wider reaching effects it had on the Polish society of past and present. Now a new era of filmmakers has entered the scene, but still they seem entirely fixated on what was, albeit now offering a different perspective: attempting to understand the previous generation - your own parents and how they coped with the repressive system. This offers a less nostalgic and/or accusatory stance, more inclined into uncovering the evils inherent to the system, that enslaved an entire country.

"Mole" tackles the issue in exactly such a manner. Twenty years after the fall of communism, Zygmunt Kowal (Marian Dziedziel) and his son Paweł (Borys Szyc) jointly have a small business of used clothes importing from France. Paweł, already father to one dear boy, now is expecting his family to grow with his spouse Ewa (Magdalena Czerwinska) pregnant. Lacking enough funds the couple still lives with Zygmunt, a widow ever since his wife died not long after giving birth to her sole child. Both Paweł's and Ewa's fathers were movement legends, one of the local activists that participated in the Solidarity struggle, albeit only one survived to see democracy. This romantic vision of Zygmunt as a freedom fighter suddenly starts to crumble, when local newspapers accuse Zygmunt of being a mole to the secret services. Zygmunt remains elusive on the subject, ultimately deciding to join his cousin in France, instead of facing the charges.

The pretence itself brings about an enthralling host of possibilities, dramatically seemingly similar to accusations thrown at Lech Wałęsa not so long ago, offering a potential to uncover some hard truths about the grayish hue of the struggle. First-time director attempts to do just that, crafting confrontations between Zygmunt and the society that once held him in high regard, as well as having Paweł swallow a possibility that his father is not a crystal clear as he would have liked to believe.

When newcomer Rafal Lewandowski falters is in the storytelling, especially with regards to the flashback sequences, which seem pasted on from poorly executed television movies, not a quality wide screen production. Nonetheless other aspects also grind, making it for the most part seem like a mediocre TV movie, instead of a full-fledged feature. Dramatic constructions unhinge the movie integrity, and although certain scenes are truly successful, such as Zygmunt meeting the unanimous adoration of French emigrants, the overall plotting and logical inconsistencies leaves much to be desired. Add to this a general below-par performance by most of the cast, who struggle to instill a sense of credible emotionality to proceedings. This is despite a well-designed intriguing concept that ultimately leads to a satisfying, if disturbing, dramatic closure.