Sieben Tage Sonntag

Now I could say no pun intended, but if I'm being honest ... it is very much intended. Talking about intentions, I can understand that for some the intentions of the movie are not clear. One may think it just wants to show us what is happening without giving us guidance. And that leads us to the point where you can say the same thing about the youth portrayed in here ... they are not being leaded by someone and therefor just drift and without anyone really giving them advice.

Having said that, it is really difficult to root for anyone in this. While at some moments of the movie I was reminded of Mean Streets (the Scorsese one), when you kind of look at the two main characters. But it's an illusion, not just story wise but also quality wise. I commend the rawness of the movie and not taking prisoners. But acting is also subpar and the point it tries to make could be told in an even shorter running time ...

"Sieben Tage Sonntag" is another movie that is loosely based on a real case of youth violence. The movie follows the two lead characters Adam and Tomek through their daily routine. Adam lives with his grandmother and seems to be brought up in a Christian surrounding. He cares about his grandmother, has a connection to church and seems to be the emotional character of this film. Tomek on the other hand gives the tough guy, uncaring for other peoples emotions, yet obviously insecure.

He is the one paving the path into a downward spiral of drugs, booze, ignorance and violence. All we know is he seems to come from "the city" where he went through some hardship that is supposed to be illustrated by his jail-style tattoos. The movie plays in a run down polish city that gives the gritty backdrop for the story, although it feels like being shot in Germany and could be a picture for any ghetto in any country. Everything is broken and run down, windows are barely ever not broken and there is little light on the horizon of all the kids appearing in the movie. So what starts with sniffing glue, stealing booze and vandalizing old buildings leads up to a strange dare about killing someone that suddenly magically appears out of nowhere on some party.

Now that is my biggest beef with the movie... the character development is ridiculous to non-existent. Adam is portrayed as a rather caring character. He voices his disapproval of several of Tomeks misbehavings, is shown caring for his grandmothers problems as well as the girl he is falling in love with. Tomek is hitting on that girl with not too much of success and I guess the girl is supposed to be some breaking point or explanation for the violence the movie leads up to.

But it just doesn't make any sense when out of the blue Adam comes up with the dare. Nothing leads up to this strange dare about if they are able to kill a person. And when they stole booze and stumble upon a drunk that Tomek wants to stab with a broken bottle, nothing explains why Adam stabs the guy like a lunatic and runs across town with blood all over him until the police catches him.

I get that this is one of the cases where explanations are hard to find but if you make a movie at least have some logical character development. Here things just happen and when Adam is in jail he doesn't speak a word, not even to his grandmother when visiting.

So basically you are presented with random actions in a depressing environment. Cinematography, score and acting are OK but the movie although pretty short gets boring and doesn't deliver anything.

OK, life is hard in the ghetto but what is the viewer supposed to take from this movie that he didn't know before??

Compared to a movie like "Stoic" with similar approach to a real case this just feels like a complete failure.