Smoke
- Directed By: Grzegorz Cisiecki
- Written By: Grzegorz Cisiecki
- Country: Poland
- Released: 2008
- Running Time: 7 minutes
- Drama, Films Online, Mystery, Reviews
Having watched Grzegorz Cisiecki’s Smoke twice, I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it. This dialogue-free experimental film is described as the “story of the person who became the captive of surrealistic madness” and it does capture this madness superbly.
Told in flashback our protagonist is haunted by an array of images that are, by turns, confusing, carnal, romantic and strange. What it all means, though, is very hard to piece together and, as is often the case with surreal nightmares such as this one, your interpretation of the film will depend largely on what you bring to it.
Alternatively, you can sit back and drown in the film’s striking imagery, beautiful visual style and haunting score. This is a much easier option than you might realise. The cinematography is both bright and gorgeous and the seamless editing of the film unerringly draws you through the events in a manner that never fails to engage.
Smoke pulls off the difficult trick of presenting a non-narrative series of images while remaining coherent enough to remain utterly engrossing throughout. Much of this is down to the sheer wealth of creativity on show and, if this film is anything to go by, we can expect to see some stunning cinema from Grzegorz Cisiecki in the future.
The film is seven minutes long and you can watch it in its entirety below.
Smoke
