"Pokot" or "Spoor" (that occasionally reminded me of Haneke's Oscar-nominated White Ribbon) is a Polish 2017 movie that runs for over 2 hours, so a pretty long watch, and it is the most recent release by co-director and co-writer Agnieszka Holland as she is back to her home now and away from Hollywood at least for a little while. This was chosen as Poland's Oscar submission, but failed to get in. Unless you are Polish yourself or have a deep interest in the country's film industry, you probably won't recognize any of the actors in here. This is the story of a relatively old woman played by Agnieszka Mandat living in rural Poland and how she deals with her neighbors' passion for hunting. Even the local priest cannot comfort her and instead turns into what you could call her biggest enemy as his passion for living creatures does not include animals at all. I think it was a good film as a whole that had many solid moments. There were moments when you could say it was over the top like the protagonist's nickname for the young woman, but these are somewhat justified through the lady's disorder too. She certainly isn't a healthy woman by any means and it may be a result too from her years of loneliness, without humans at least, not without animals. And one of the film's biggest strengths comes from your very personal decision how much you identify with her and with what she says and does. This does not just include her love for animals and how she puts them above humans, but also with some of her other takes like astrology for example and I must admit that I really found it difficult to follow her to that regard, just because the subject does so little for me and I never had an interest in it.
Let me say that this is a very controversial film that will evoke all kinds of emotions in audiences. This also refers to my viewing. We had a guy who quickly thought she was an insane lunatic, but you could feel that many also felt and cared for the woman. And right when you find out that it was probably her who commited all these murders, you find out about her motivations which again makes it difficult to really hate her for what she did. It's not just about her hate against hunting, but it is about the most personal loss she could have suffered. I must say I am a bit surprised these 4 people on her side never really asked themselves if they should really stay with her, but I guess it is also somewhat justified by the motivations for her actions. In any case, this was a very bleak and atmospheric film which may be Holland's biggest strength to deliver with that approach. It is also based on a novel, but I cannot say a lot about parallels and differences as I have not read this one. The last shot with her becoming one with nature was pretty good too, even if I must say that I expected another ending, namely either her being killed by who she loves, i.e. a wild animal, or by who she hates, i.e. the hunters who'd definitely have taken the chance to shoot a human justified by her being a killer and they probably would not have to be worried about legal punishment judging from what we have seen about the Polish police in there. I also liked that the one female cop is really against her too and says so explicitly in her presence that she thinks she is sompletely whacked. There may be emancipation factors in this film, maybe a bit of feminism too, buit it's far from at the very core of it, even if I generally would say, and attendance during my viewing confirmed this, that this was a film that is maybe more interesting for females. But still males like myself can enjoy it too. I think it was a pretty good character study and the more I think about it the more I like it now. Holland as well as her cast and crew deliver again. This deserves to be seen on a big screen and I give it a comfortable thumbs-up. Go check it out.
Let me say that this is a very controversial film that will evoke all kinds of emotions in audiences. This also refers to my viewing. We had a guy who quickly thought she was an insane lunatic, but you could feel that many also felt and cared for the woman. And right when you find out that it was probably her who commited all these murders, you find out about her motivations which again makes it difficult to really hate her for what she did. It's not just about her hate against hunting, but it is about the most personal loss she could have suffered. I must say I am a bit surprised these 4 people on her side never really asked themselves if they should really stay with her, but I guess it is also somewhat justified by the motivations for her actions. In any case, this was a very bleak and atmospheric film which may be Holland's biggest strength to deliver with that approach. It is also based on a novel, but I cannot say a lot about parallels and differences as I have not read this one. The last shot with her becoming one with nature was pretty good too, even if I must say that I expected another ending, namely either her being killed by who she loves, i.e. a wild animal, or by who she hates, i.e. the hunters who'd definitely have taken the chance to shoot a human justified by her being a killer and they probably would not have to be worried about legal punishment judging from what we have seen about the Polish police in there. I also liked that the one female cop is really against her too and says so explicitly in her presence that she thinks she is sompletely whacked. There may be emancipation factors in this film, maybe a bit of feminism too, buit it's far from at the very core of it, even if I generally would say, and attendance during my viewing confirmed this, that this was a film that is maybe more interesting for females. But still males like myself can enjoy it too. I think it was a pretty good character study and the more I think about it the more I like it now. Holland as well as her cast and crew deliver again. This deserves to be seen on a big screen and I give it a comfortable thumbs-up. Go check it out.