overblik
A directorial work from Slawomir Idziak, acclaimed cinematographer best known for his work with Kieslowski on A Short Film About Killing, The Double Life Of Veronique and Three Colours Blue. His highly distinctive visual style and extraordinary use of colour and filters is in full effect here, as evinced in the screenshots - shifting between tinted black and white and filtered colour (mixed with video and images refilmed off television screens), the cumulative effect is both expressive and poetic.
The film concerns astronaut Enak Charles, who, posted in space, refuses to return to Earth without giving any reasons for his decision. The world is plunged into political crisis - the biggest since the Cold War. Sensation hungry reporters begin to exploit the scandal, tracking down his former wife (the luminous Irene Jacob, with whom Idziak worked on The Double Life Of Veronique) and examining his past in communist Poland. Idziak chose the title of the film as an homage to "Citizen Kane" ("Enak" is simply "Kane" read backwards), also a favourite film of the late Kieslowski. The construction of the scenario also recalls Welles' masterpiece.