mpadjasek

I watched the film "Shreds" with great interest and tension. I may not be a completely objective viewer, and I am interested in the topic because, together with my wife and her family, we took care of my mother-in-law, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Some of the situations described in the film were similar to my personal experience. I was very impressed by the excellent performance of the actors in this film. Director Beata Dzianowicz, an experienced documentarian, operates her camera close to life. Scenes are staged with meticulous attention to detail, avoiding melodramatic exaggeration. The film asks difficult questions about love, sacrifice, and the right to one's own life in the face of catastrophe. People's attitudes in the face of such a tragedy vary, but for me this film was too pessimistic and gloomy. It also seems to me that the Paterok family shown in the film was not mature enough to face their situation. I also remembered the famous letter of Ronald Reagan in which he said goodbye to his family and the world after learning about his illness. In our case, the illness of a loved one cemented the entire family and released new energy to work together. We cannot fully understand what is going on in the head of a sick person, but it is our duty to continue living and thinking about the future. In our family, this was the common knowledge of the already somewhat experienced middle generation as well as young people just starting their lives.

The film "The First Circle" is an adaptation of the famous novel of the same title by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I myself come from Eastern Europe (Poland) and remember the times of communist dictatorship, so I liked the novel "The First Circle" very much. In my opinion, the film is not perfect and does not live up to the novel, but it is an important historical document of its era and is worth seeing. The problem of science that can serve authoritarian regimes and evil purposes is, after all, timeless. The film doesn't quite succeed in creating an authentic and claustrophobic atmosphere of the USSR, but the moral dilemmas are real. The international team of filmmakers can be considered a weakness that weakens the authenticity, but on the other hand, it is very interesting. For example, director Aleksander Ford is the author of the biggest hit in the history of Polish cinematography, "Knights of the Teutonic Order", and Elzbieta Czyzewska is a famous Polish star of the 1960s. They were both forced to leave Poland in 1968 as a result of a shameful and mindless campaign against Polish citizens of Jewish origin unleashed by the communist authorities, which brought irreparable losses to the country. For me, this fact gives the film "The First Circle" even more power as a protest against the authoritarian regime.

I really liked the movie "Scarborn", even though the events depicted there have nothing to do with the life of Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Tadeusz Kosciuszko is, of course, an American and Polish hero who, as a military engineer, rendered invaluable service to the American Revolution. On May 5, 1798, before leaving the United States for France (already after the collapse of the Polish Insurrection), he made a will. It clearly stated that all his American wealth was to be used to buy back Black slaves from bondage and provide them with an education so they could function independently in society as free people. He wanted them to receive tools and land. Not only did Kosciuszko lead the armed uprising against Tsarist Russia in Poland, but he was also a pioneer advocate for improving the status of peasants as a step towards equality for all classes. The film "Scarborn" is a gripping thriller, but it raises critical questions about our past and present, and not only in Poland. I myself am a descendant of peasants who were once treated in Poland in a similar way to Black slaves in America. I really liked the scene in which Ignac Sikora (Bartosz Bielenia) and Domingo (Jason Mitchell) show each other the scars on their backs. The film ends with the question of what happens next. Every country has its dark side in the past, but let's not judge people by the color of their skin, social class, or nationality. We can forget about what was bad in the past and work together to improve our lives. If we look around, neither the USA, Poland, nor the EU is the worst place in the world today.