Ligne d'eau

Kuba (Mateusz Banasiuk) is a promising competitive swimmer who spends his time training, refereeing between his argumentative mother and girlfriend, and getting blowjobs in the changing room toilets (supposedly from other young men, although the sound effects make it seem like he's got a hungry labrador in there with him). Then he meets Michał, and perhaps both young men will come out of the closet. But in Poland, that's not necessarily an easy thing to do...

There are too many padding scenes in this - shots of cars driving through multi-storey car-parks or of Polish underpasses add little and could easily have been cut (or perhaps replaced with further shots of the fortunately-endowed Mr Banasiuk in the shower). But it's a pleasing enough film: not a new story by any stretch of the imagination, but seeing a well-worn plot set in a different location always adds an air of originality. And the nudity - both male and female - is nice! Banasiuk does well in the lead role, seeming remote and unemotional until the affair with Michał starts, whereupon he warms noticeably (although one suspects he's never going to be the life and soul of the party). But acting honours go to Marta Nieradkiewicz as the wronged girlfriend held prisoner by the love she realises is hopeless, and to Katarzyna Herman as the clingy yet realistic mother.

Heralded as Poland's first-ever 'gay film', this is worth watching not just for its novelty, not just for the nudity (or did I mention that already?), but also because it is an engrossing human interest drama that's a good way to spend 93 minutes.

People from outside the Eastern European Block don't understand that this contradicting reality is the truth. I know because they doubted my stories from Romania when I was forced to wake up at 5-6AM and wait in line for 1-2 hours to get 2 kg of milk during the 70's and the 80's. I had no reason to lie because I was making a good living in Toronto for decades and I needed no sympathy for my early life. The critics' approach looks pretentious and arrogant to me. I know why they think this way but they shouldn't judge what they don't understand. This is the reality today in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, etc and even worst in Russia. Romanians got stoned during the gay pride in recent years and this is impossible to digest by the ignorant Americans. Nothing is new in this world and the story was told before. The idea of the movie was to show people discovering their true identity, the struggle and the beauty/ugliness in their relationships. A unique experience in one's life, if you are lucky, that gives clarity. Otherwise, it's just meaningless living. I think it was captured brilliantly, despite the unqualified critics and minor flows. This movie is only for the people that accept the complexity of the human nature. Period.

Apparently "Floating Skyscrapers" is Poland's first 'in-your-face' gay feature. It's a particularly glum affair that will almost certainly not make you glad to be gay in Poland and which only goes to reinforce the stereotype that most Polish men are heterosexual boors who might enjoying screwing around with someone of the same sex so long as no-one knows about it and there is no real commitment. Well, maybe not since one half of the couple on display is a sensitive soul and boy, does he suffer for it. There is a fair bit of nudity, both male and female, (our hero has a girlfriend), and a lot of anguished soul-searching. What there isn't is much in the way of uplift. In other words, this is the kind of film that queer cinema ditched a long time ago. I found it painful to watch.

In many post communist countries, where people used to have lives lined up and where the one who was standing out was the enemy of the society - such perception still exists. The proof is that in several countries lately, the constitution was adjusted to a union between a man and a woman solely.

Poland is a very religious country and related prejudice against sexual minority is certainly projected into the questioning men which keeps them in the closet - such as in the example of a main character Kuba who is exploring not only the water of professional swimming facility but also his sexuality. In a way, he represents the society's ideal of a man: if one behaves as a male, has a woman (or women) around, then he is fine. Even though, deep inside, he might be feeling differently.

On the other side, the character Mihal represents a more progressive minority person since he is out to himself and has a close relationship with his mother. Unfortunately, sometimes the visible guys such Mihal gain more attention from the radical group members as well.

Other characters portray misconception, stereotypes and misunderstandings about homosexuality – which are still present in the contemporary post-communist societies, such as in the statement (about homosexuality) of Kuba's girlfriend, "Why do you do this to me?"

This movie of a nice quality is by no means an average nothing.

It is a pleasure to the eyes and ears, although the story is so difficult I wish I haven't seen it in the first place.

I remembered the ending from all those years ago so I basically stopped short before the end this time around. I think it may be viewed as a spoiler, but if you're not up for a tragedy - be advised against this movie. It's a pity we have this 'drama' label going on so broad nowadays. What are you getting under it you never know. Well, this one is on the verge of having you wheep through the night if you've invested in the characters.

However, it is really a great piece of art with all the beauty and metaphores in place.

I hope such a talent of a director will eventually overcome his own hunting story and start doing movies that are a bit less challenging for an average viewer.