The Dark House

The Dark House sees a man pack up and leave after the death of his wife. He stumbles across an old farm house where a father and daughter live. This is no simple narrative though. Running parallel to this is the same man taking police through the scene of a suggested crime. Is this man a witness? A suspect? A victim? The film gradually unfolds to reveal his story. This sounds engaging on its own but there is yet another layer. Political aspects may have some control over the police and how they want this case to turn out. The police aren't exactly in the moment, talking about their doctors, having snowball fights, blowing up condoms to hit each other with, or just enjoying the vodka. There's certainly a lot of satire that I probably missed, not being polish, but this is still a well plotted and beautifully shot thriller.

This movie is telling a story that could happen anywhere - if anywhere is Poland or any other communist country. The way how the things happen will remind you that the human kind has its dark side that comes out way too easily! From my point of view it is one of the most interesting new polish movies, the plot is not obvious - or at least how it goes is not, it has integrity and all the right elements any movie should have. My only complaint would be that there are to many side stories included to the main story. Not all are relevant, and some quite hard to digest and understand.

If you like strong and heavy stuff - that makes you think about the condition of the human kind, you will find some in this movie.

I can recommend this title if you would like to see (or just remind yourself) how the things were done in communist Poland.

This is an astounding film, bleak, grim, more than gritty and for those of us who were not brought up in an Eastern Bloc country a remarkable insight into the machinations of small town corruption Polish style.

Films like this should be seen by a wider audience, it was a captivating experience to sit and view the inner workings of this elaborate (sometimes overly) story.

There was just too much 'going on' in the story and some of it could have been left on the cutting room floor to give a tighter film, but that is a small critique of what is a disturbing look back at communism at 'street level'

If you like your cinema real...don't miss the opportunity to see this slice of Polish communistic vodka sodden culture.

This, like Wojciech Smarzowski's previous outing, is an exploration of the side of Poland that many film makers don't want to show. Neither the plot nor the characters offer any hope that there'll be a happy ending, and it is easy to find yourself feeling suffocated in the cesspool of corruption and self-interest that the film presents.

The story follows the investigation into the murder of a family on a farm in 1978. This is used to highlight the ineptitude and indifference of the local police and the thick coat of corruption which stains everybody involved in the story.As with 'Wesele' ['the Wedding'], the director's previous feature, the story is fictional but is very firmly based on fact.

It is uncompromising, compelling and very well-made, and is suited for those who want something eye-opening and gritty.

I've decided to write this short review when I saw the previous one.

What you need to understand before watching this movie is that it's about difficult and dark times in Polish history - before the Soviet Union collapse, when Poland was under it's heel.

It's not meant to be funny despite some other reviewers. This is a movie about good people making difficult choices, about people without hope and about people trying to make most of bad situation. It shows how ruthless and corrupt the government was and how one couldn't win with it if he tried.

It's not a movie for everyone. Even the younger generations of Polish might have a problem understanding this film as they can't relate to the passed times. But what is shown here was the reality in many countries of former Eastern Block and is true in many others even now.