The most frustrating thing in life is to run into a stumbling block of your ambition. But some things are just so difficult to overcome. Money, class, background, education - these things you won't easily acquire and there are no shortcuts. But if once rejected, you badly needed to be accepted back? What can you resort to in order to make your plan work and the girl of your dreams like and trust you back? Is there a limit to your scruples or Machiavelli was right and "The end justifies the means"? How a boy with no money and prospects tried to make it in the city of Warsaw. The Hater.
Some die young. Yes, tragically, not everybody is going to make it and enjoy their lives to the fullest. Some will end up with many unfinished stories and unfinished business. But if you had a chance to come back in another body with memories of your past life and were able to mend what was once broken? Young Robert Downey, Jr. and Cybill Shephard as a pair of lost lovers. A play on reincarnation and a feel-good comedy that hasn't lost its appeal. Chances Are.
There are events in everybody's professional life that change. Which push towards better, bolder, braver. Which build the understanding of the world and compassion. Stumbling blocks, adventures breaking the limits. Personal tragedies only understood by participants. For Ryszard Kapuściński it was the witnessing of the Angolan Civil War, people met there and terrible sights of desperate opposition, national hatred, bravery, and division. This is a film based on such events and a tribute to a writer who influenced and still influences those in love with the Dark Continent. Another Day of Life.
You'd think that every experience teaches you a lesson. You draw conclusions from past mistakes and at all cost avoid the sequence of events that led to this or that scenario. However, truth be told, people don't change in time. They just age, having their habits sharpened and preferences strengthened. The same goes with relationships: there are people who cheat and those who are cheated, there are marathon runners with happy anniversaries and those for whom the shortest jog in a couple seems to be too much of an effort. But can you, taking into account the attention it raises and the number of hearts it leaves broken, continually run from your own wedding? The 90s romantic comedy, which still makes us look at our own relationship flops and hope for some happy endings. Runaway Bride.
If you really want to know a person, look like he/she treats their superiors. It's not an art to keep up appearances among people your own class and status, but when it comes to treating your employees, nannies, and servants your true nature tends to outshine the carefully designed package of good behavior. What if a small town happened to give all the discriminated and mistreated women their voice? What stories would they tell about their well-off bosses? Isn't the mistreatment of people a deeper problem stemming from personal failures and low self-esteem? And is the life of a suburban housewife sad in its simple mundane tasks, surrounded by loveless husbands, demanding children, envious neighbors, and worthy our pity? The Help.
Very rarely the cinema has the courage to talk about a topic which is hidden behind the walls of social institutions, which is mentioned only when it comes to rationalizing abortion, which is shared between parents in the lonely lifetime of struggle and family support or total ignorance and fight with the world. Down syndrome. In the highly opinionated world of those who made this and that decision, we rarely focus on those who are already around us, and even though different, need to fit in the world and its norms. What if a man who has his personal struggles met a man who had a whole world of different struggles? What if two lonely people found each other in the hostile world of ignorance, hatred, family relations and heartbreak? A gem from the previous century, still adequate and true. The Eighth Day.
You know with these monster creatures, they have been known for centuries and you cannot be really sure if they are real or just a figment of someone's imagination. Possibly they appeared in your dreams, were part of your complex doll and Lego blocks games, or were the characters of horror books and gothic tales which you read holding a torch under a duvet. Would you swear, though, that they aren't a part of the real world? Maybe a video footage will help you believe in what you tend to doubt. Maybe a trip to far-flung Transylvania will be of use? Maybe a face to face encounter with the above-mentioned monster will help you understand. But can you, in modern times, believe in Frankenstein, vampires, werewolves, and other mysterious creatures or is it a scheme of a wicked mind? Transylvania 6-5000.
The problem with serial killers, rapists and robbers is that they can be someone you love and trust, they may be your friend's relative and they might actually pop up in your house whenever they want, making you the victim of circumstances. Be careful. Look around. Add sounds, notes, and coincidences. Put all the little insignificant pieces to the puzzle and discover who is responsible. Some people have secrets which are difficult to eradicate and once you start committing crimes it may be impossible to stop. One woman engagement in quite a complicated love affair shows you that no family relations are really that easy. Plus, the humor of Pedro Almodovar makes it the whole package.





