Critics have lavished praise on the movie "Never Gonna Snow Again", directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and co-directed by Michał Englert, after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The "Variety" magazine called the movie an "intriguing social satire" revealing "hypnotic powers".
"I cannot stop thinking about 'Never Gonna Snow Again.' It could have carried on for another three hours and I'd have stayed for all of it. Beguiling and bizarre and lovely" - Manori Ravindran of "Variety" tweeted after "Never Gonna Snow Again" premiered in Venice.
Critics have lavished praise on the movie calling it an "intriguing social satire", and tapping it as one of the favourites to win the major award at the festival.
"In 'Never Gonna Snow Again', a searching, cryptic satire of bourgeois insularity in modern Poland, the magic hands of an immigrant Ukrainian masseur are tasked with easing a litany of woes, from middle-class guilt to climate change anxiety to terminal cancer — though no one thinks to ask him about his own interior aches and pains" - Guy Lodge wrote in his review of the film for "Variety" magazine.
Deborah Young of "The Hollywood Reporter" points out: "In Venice competition it was one of the films that most pushed the envelope technically and thematically and could be a strong outsider for festival recognition, along with actor Alec Utgoff in the main role".
According to Carlos Aguilar from "The Playlist", the picture "offers that exact narrative variant in the form of a hypnotic viewing experience that awakens all senses through our eyes".
The most coveted prize, the Golden Lion, will be awarded on Saturday, September 12.
Enigmatic stranger
The film, which has already been named as Poland's Oscar candidate, centres around Zhenia, a Ukrainian man with mysterious powers who becomes the masseur and confidante of a group of residents living in an upper class gated complex.
Zhenia was born near Chernobyl exactly seven years before the nuclear disaster. Today, he leads an ascetic existence, living in a spare, small apartment at the top of a high rise and walking everywhere with his foldable massage bed in tow.
The enigmatic young man has healing hands and the ability to hypnotise his clients. He says he knows all the languages of the world and scenes in the film show him conversing in Polish, Russian and Vietnamese with the inhabitants of the wealthy neighbourhood, who only open up to him about their inner fears and longings.
As Christmas approaches, strange events begin unfolding in the community.
"A certain mystery is at the core of our film. We would like to encourage the audience to reflect on the state of Europe today. We aim to ask a few questions, subtly, with humour but with no preconceived bias on our side," the filmmakers said in a statement shared by the Venice Biennale.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Playlist