This movie was one of these which I didn't enjoy much in the beginning but the closer it got to the end the more I started to appreciate it.
This movie is about Polish surrealist painter Zdzislaw Beksinski and his family. I have to say I've never heard of this artist and I have no idea how famous he might be in his homeland. I have a feeling though that the main reason why this movie was made was the extensive video archive he left behind, where he had obsessively recorded his family and everyday events (including very personal ones, like deaths of his loved ones). There's a fair amount of those videos included, which have been recreated with actors, staying true to the poor VCR quality of the originals.
A short summary: in this movie, much as in life, everyone dies in the end. The film spans 28 years and most of the events we see are somewhat tragic in nature. Zdzislaw, who already looks like a pretty old man in the beginning of this film, ultimately outlives all his family members, only to suffer a violent, ridiculous end.
It must be said though, that the key conflict in this movie boils down to two different approaches to life. One is represented in the humorous stoicism of Zdzislaw, the other in the paranoid suicidal anxiety of his son Tomasz. The father tries to help the son and respect his way of living, although there are moments when it all becomes too much even for him.
Art, music and film all hold an important place in this movie, as these seem to be the tools by which this family tries to rise above the depressive factors ruling their lives. Pretty much the entire movie takes place in drab socialist era apartments (one belonging to Tomasz, the other to his parents) and Beksinski's paintings on the walls of both offer a glimpse of alternate reality, a sort of escape from the mundane suffering.
This movie is about Polish surrealist painter Zdzislaw Beksinski and his family. I have to say I've never heard of this artist and I have no idea how famous he might be in his homeland. I have a feeling though that the main reason why this movie was made was the extensive video archive he left behind, where he had obsessively recorded his family and everyday events (including very personal ones, like deaths of his loved ones). There's a fair amount of those videos included, which have been recreated with actors, staying true to the poor VCR quality of the originals.
A short summary: in this movie, much as in life, everyone dies in the end. The film spans 28 years and most of the events we see are somewhat tragic in nature. Zdzislaw, who already looks like a pretty old man in the beginning of this film, ultimately outlives all his family members, only to suffer a violent, ridiculous end.
It must be said though, that the key conflict in this movie boils down to two different approaches to life. One is represented in the humorous stoicism of Zdzislaw, the other in the paranoid suicidal anxiety of his son Tomasz. The father tries to help the son and respect his way of living, although there are moments when it all becomes too much even for him.
Art, music and film all hold an important place in this movie, as these seem to be the tools by which this family tries to rise above the depressive factors ruling their lives. Pretty much the entire movie takes place in drab socialist era apartments (one belonging to Tomasz, the other to his parents) and Beksinski's paintings on the walls of both offer a glimpse of alternate reality, a sort of escape from the mundane suffering.