DEMON (Poland 2016)
Directed by the late Marcin Wrona
After having spent a lovely weekend in the Polish countryside last August attending the wedding of my nephew, it was only fitting that when I returned home that I see this film from Poland about a Polish wedding in the countryside ... that, as you can guess from the title of this film, goes terribly wrong!
Reminiscent of the last segment in 2015's "Wild Tales" from Argentina, this is a wedding reception from HELL! Literally, the groom becomes possessed by a demon. The movie gets off to a promising start by setting a creepy, ominous mood, before losing its focus in the never-ending reception.
Despite the committed performance from its cast, the movie never gets its footing: does it want to be a horror film, a black comedy, or a meditative look at recent Polish history towards its Jewish countrymen? It tries a little of all three, with varying degrees of success.
The 'demon' of the title turns out to be a nice Jewish girl who just wants to get married. Nevertheless, she ruins a perfectly fine Polish wedding reception, so that by the end of the endless (and epically stormy) night, nobody returns for the 'poprawiny'! That's the real tragedy, for everyone knows the poprawiny is the best part! (For you non-Poles, that is the day-after party).
For the record, the events depicted in this film bear no resemblance to the wedding and reception I attended. That being said, I did notice these similarities:
- The groom's tie-toss went off without a hitch;
- Lots (and lots!) of vodka was consumed;
- One of the guests is a sullen, disturbed man named "Ronaldo"--in the middle of Poland? Go figure ...
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| This was NOT my nephew at his wedding (although he may have felt like this on the inside) |
