I just saw this film at Cinequest Film Festival 18 in San Jose, CA. Although my tastes personally range towards quirky comedies, and dark thrillers, I have to say that I found this film to be a wonderful and delightful movie (not words normally spoken by one of my film tastes). It carried back to the grand days of film-making, as it is done in crisp black and white (which makes it work all the better). 91 year old actress (at the time) Danuta Szaflarska, is fantastic as the spry old woman, who is both stubborn, yet introspective.
The story focuses on the character, Aniela, and her life in what once was a grand and beautiful house, now running down, but still home for her. On one side of her house are scheming neighbors, apparently in cahoots with Aniela's unappreciative and greedy son, as developers attempting to buy the property to build apartments. On the other side is a nice family who host a rather noisy local children's music club. Aniela is stuck in the middle - but has her faithful companion dog to mirror her emotions, while also adding his own personality. The interaction between Aniela and the dog is enough alone to make this film enjoyable. As it goes, even for being 91, Aniela is no fool - as she spys and learns of her neighbors' ways and true intentions. She is always ahead of the game, as the film moves ahead, and some surprises may yet be in store for those who are not wise to her thinking and abilities.
A fantastic film that should be seen by any film lover. I hope to see it again a few more times.
