Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Agnieszka Woszczynska
Starring: Dobromir Dymecki, Agnieszka Zulewska, Alma Jodorowsky, Jean-Marc Barr, Marcello
Romolo, Ibrahim Keshk
Polish director Agnieszka Woszczynska's feature debut
Silent Land has a premise that falls somewhere between
Ruben Ostlund's
Force Majeure
and Raymond Carver's short story 'So Much Water So Close to Home'. In
Ostlund's film, a vacationing Swedish couple find their relationship
tested when the husband flees during what turns out to be a harmless
avalanche without thinking about the safety of his wife and kids. In
Carver's story, a group of fishermen discover the corpse of a young
woman near their favourite spot, but decide to continue with their
planned trip regardless.
When early on a character remarks that "We have trouble with the water
here," Woszczynska almost seems to be explicitly acknowledging the
influence of Carver's story, which has been adapted for the screen by
Robert Altman (as one of the may plotlines of Short Cuts) and Ray Lawrence (Jindabyne).
There are two troublesome bodies of water at play here. One is a
swimming pool attached to a rental home on a scenic Italian island. The
other is the Mediterranean, which has ferried immigrants to the island
from Africa and the Middle East, causing the military to become
stationed on the island.
When visiting middle class Polish couple Adam (Dobromir Dymecki)
and Anna (Agnieszka Zulewska) find that the swimming pool is
emptied and malfunctioning, the former puts his foot down and insists
that their temporary landlord Fabio (Marcello Romolo) have it
fixed. "I love you when you're like that," Anna says of her husband's
forthrightness, and that night they make passionate love.
The following morning they're woken by loud drilling. A young Arab
immigrant, Rahim (Ibrahim Keshk), has been hired by Fabio to fix
the pool. Adam and Anna put up with the inconvenience for a couple of
days, knowing they'll get the pool they were advertised, but tellingly
they never offer so much as a cup of coffee to the young labourer. Just
as he's completed his work, Rahim gets entangled in his hose and drowns
in the pool as it fills. Rather than rush to his aid, Adam calls for an
ambulance.
Woszczynska cuts to Adam and Anna as they are interrogated by the local
police, who simultaneously want to make them feel bad for allowing the
young man to die while reassuring them that as he "wasn't legal,"
they're not too bothered about Rahim's death. As far as the cops are
concerned, Adam and Anna are cleared of any wrongdoing, but will their
consciences allow them off the hook so easily?
The movie that follows plays out like a very straight version of
Force Majeure. The cringe comedy that Ostlund so cleverly deployed is nowhere to be
seen here, save for the awkward fumblings of a young cop. Instead we get
a lot of uncomfortable silences between Adam and Anna, who both deal
with their guilt in their own way. Adam retreats into his own company
while Anna insists on befriending a local couple, to whom she lies about
her husband's "bravery" in trying to save Rahim.
Eschewing any biting satire, Woszczynska struggles to fill her movie's
silence with meaning. Silent Land has a very simple
message, that even the most sociopathic and entitled among us may
struggle with guilt, but she never explores that notion in a
particularly interesting way. Like the new Polish middle classes who
look to the West, Woszczynska seems to be aping a type of filmmaking
long perfected by Scandinavians. She's nailed the frostiness, but as her
film proceeds, its icy exterior melts away until we're simply left with
a damp patch where any conclusions might be drawn.
Silent Land is in UK/ROI cinemas
from September 23rd.
