Undescribable Perfection

A different way of telling a story

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Young filmmakers send me films or point me to them, and it is always a matter of trepidation. Young talent needs to be both encouraged and challenged, but the internet is a poor medium for making the prerequisite human connections. The only way to communicate therefore is through the art itself.It is easy enough to say that the filmmaker shows talent. Also that it is clear that he masters less than he believes. It is equally apparent that there is too much here, too much packed in. This is movie video territory, not an exploration of long form. The most rewarding filmmakers don't need to dazzle. They can use their cinematic competence as the foundations and let things unfold at a pace that is subtly negotiated with the viewer.That said, this is a very good movie video - type short: several layers of existence each imagining, dreaming or recalling the others. The attractions of sex, the disgust at gluttony. If this had more shape, one could see it as a Joycean element done through the Keislowski mirror. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

There are some short films(and feature length in the case of David Lynch, who will be obviously compared to with this particular film)which defy elaboration and are difficult to articulate in word. DYM is such an example. A melancholy young man, seemingly having a hard time dealing with, I think, the loss of his girlfriend, who drives a taxi and enters a mysterious night club, following his portly, strange customer who has poontang on his mind. What lies ahead is something right out of EYES WIDE SHUT or THE NINTH GATE, where an odd collection of club patrons participate in surreal, kinky, and decadent goings-on. A tape recorder, lesbian kissing, compelling characters who seem sexually liberated, among other things find their way into director Grzegorz Cisiecki's bizarre odyssey of a young cabbie possibly driven mad. Some films, like DYM, are not as easy to explain as they are to simply experience. Along with beautiful women, Dawid Rymar's cinematography is the major star here, it's a visual feast, pull up at the table and dine.

A young man is seen as the film opens looking through his apartment window. Since the viewer has no idea of what this man is watching, we have no way of knowing what is going through his mind. The cassette player Edgar turns on, triggers something in his mind, perhaps about a not too distant past that is clear in his mind. Perhaps the love affair with a gorgeous creature that evidently is over, is painful for him to recall. The protagonist, Edgar, might be young, but what we see of him tells us of a life that has experienced so much for his short years. His world is populated with characters that have, at one time, or another, been key factors for his present state.The story is told in crisp images. "Dym" is an enigmatic short film by Polish director Grzegorz Cisiecki, who shows a style that recalls some of the best films of this genre. "Dym", or "Smoke", in its eight minutes running time, shows us a talented director that needs to be seen more often. The remarkable feat in this brief movie is the way Mr. Cisiecki got wonderful ensemble work from his cast. The cinematographer, David Rymar, captured every nuance in the film with his camera. The music composed by Aleksandr Porach with the help of Rashid Brocca, set the right mood for our enjoyment.Grzegorz Golaszewski, the young actor at the center of the story, does a marvelous job in conveying what Mr. Cisiecki wanted to achieve.

A young man with a sensitive face muses on his girlfriend. Images of menace, jealousy, and intoxication flow through a short film that's a glittering series of handsome surreal pastiches that suggest Lynch, Fellini, Peter Greenaway, and others and is set off by a striking, if, in the manner of such shorts, somewhat overwrought sound design. The filmmaker, Grzegorz Cisiecki, is ambitious and talented. Now he needs a writer -- or a stronger narrative structure; though masters of imagery and sound are frequently a bit lacking in that area. As has been remarked by others here, this is more a calling card than anything else. it's an impressive calling card, though.