Writer/director, occasional character actor, Jerzy Skolimowski, whose career grew out of the Polish New Wave, rarely made a film as accessible (or as good) as this modest, yet thrilling and suspenseful workplace drama about a quartet of Polish tradesmen illegally in England to renovate a London townhouse on the cheap just as the Solidarity Movement is about to come to grief at home. Jeremy Irons, fresh off BRIDESHEAD REVISITED on tv, shows real movie star chops as the contractor in charge of the project and the three other men. The only one to speak English, the others all but stuck inside the house as they go about tearing down everything but weight-bearing walls and rebuild the place from dump to posh. Skolimowski finds infinite challenges in just getting by without calling undue attention to themselves, stretching the inadequate funds, waiting for the weekly call home (at a nearby booth), and unavoidable interior disasters. (It’s always the plumbing.) Refusing to pump up tension for easy effect outside or in, as Irons calmly and creatively runs all tasks, becoming something of a reluctant Artful Dodger in the performance of his duties. (One scam involving double-dipping on groceries flirts with phony suspense tropes, but they get away with it.) Underlying everything are events at home where Russia has started military action against Poland; Irons unsure whether or not to tell the men. All beautifully handled, touching & funny, too, with a political bonus as bossman Irons and his men play out management/labor issues.* With regular Merchant/Ivory cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts putting in quietly spectacular work. What a lesson in capturing darkness that still can be properly read by an audience. Why Skolimowski couldn’t follow this up with other breakthru projects something of a mystery.*
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Skolimowski’s acute observation really sweats the details. Look close during holiday greetings between the four, the three working under Irons exchanging handshakes and hugs; Irons and the men only handshakes.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Not seen here, Skolimowski’s recent art-house film, EO/’22, a life story of a donkey, very well received in a limited release.
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