Presented by the Society for Arts, the Polish Film Festival in America runs Friday, November 5, through Thursday, November 21, with screenings this week at Beverly Arts Center; Copernicus Center; Facets Cinematheque; Golf Glen 5, 9180 W. Golf Rd., Niles; Pickwick; River East 21; and Society for Arts. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $13, $10 for documentaries, and a festival pass, good for seven screenings, is $70. Following are reviews of selected films through Thursday, November 11, plus showtimes for later weeks; for more information, a complete schedule, and ticket purchases, call 773-486-9612 or go to pffamerica.com.
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After.Life An unhappy young woman (Christina Ricci) blacks out in a car crash and wakes up on a gurney in the basement of the local undertaker (Liam Neeson); when she protests that she’s not dead, he replies, “You all say the same thing.” Whether or not she’s alive is the question that’s supposed to animate this ostensibly metaphysical horror movie, but thematic rigor mortis sets in long before the final reel. Apple pitchman Justin Long, who acquitted himself well as Alison Lohman’s confused lover in Drag Me to Hell, tackles a similar but more emotionally demanding role here, and the character’s torment is more than he can manage (I guess there’s no app for that). The pallid Ricci spends most of her scenes clad in a sexy red slip or completely nude, which makes you wonder whether the producers are banking on word-of-mouth from necrophiliacs. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, making her feature debut, directed a script she wrote with husband Paul Vosloo. R, 97 min. —J.R. Jones Sun 11/7, 5 PM, Facets Cinematheque, Fri 11/12, 7:30 PM, Beverly Arts Center, and Tue 11/16, 8:45 PM, Golf Glen 5
The Holy Business Estranged middle-aged brothers reluctantly reunite in their podunk hometown for their father’s funeral. Execution of the will reveals that dad left everything to the Pope except a beat-up old car, but the boys don’t feel quite so disinherited after learning that the jalopy once belonged to John Paul II and reputedly works miracles for those who pray inside it. Reconciled by greed, they brainstorm over how to cash in, but their evolving plans fail take equally venal local interests into account. This Polish drama sounds darker on paper than it is onscreen: director Maciej Wojtyszko tempers his satirical impulses with an affectionate forgiveness of human foibles. The film plays like a dyspeptic variation on the Local Hero genre of small-town fool-about. In Polish with subtitles. 86 min. —Cliff Doerksen Sat 11/6, 7:30 PM, Pickwick, Sun 11/14, 3 PM, Copernicus Center, and Sun 11/21, 5 PM, Golf Glen 5
