SHAMELESS (Bez wstydu) C+
Poland
(80 mi) 2012 d: Filip
Marczewski
The opening credits reveal the screen title is actually Taboo, perhaps a more incendiary
suggestion, but neither satisfies, as this film can never decide what it wants
to be about, eventually losing its focus throughout, becoming a jumbled mix of
at least two stories, where neither one is fully developed. While the lead story is supposedly a scandalous
incestual temptation between a brother and sister, Anka (Agnieszka Grochowska,
looking anorexic) and 18-year old Tadek, Matthew Kościukiewicz from ALL THAT I
LOVE (2009), a more interesting story is a developing look at vying social
groups rarely seen together, neo-Nazi’s and Gypsies, both continually at odds
against one another where there’s a seething level of resentment that is never
explored. Thrown off a train at the
film’s opening, Tadek is a troubled kid that arrives without notice on his
sister’s doorstep, where she’s not exactly overjoyed to see him, as she’s got
something developing with a new boyfriend, Andrew (Maciej Marczewski, the
director's brother), who instantly gets rude and cocky with Tadek, literally
rubbing it in that he likes his sister, which Tadek resents, seething with an
underlying jealousy, which only grows worse when they return home drunk and openly
flaunt having sex. Andrew is seen as a
rising political star, the kind of guy that can get things done, but through
favoritism, while he also seems to be at the head of the neo-Nazi groups in
town where teen thugs are continually targeting Gypsies with random violent
assaults.
Parallel to the brother and sister is a developing portrait
of Irma (Anna Próchniak), easily the best thing in the film, actually upstaging
the two leads, an attractive young Gypsy student, which itself is notable, as
Gypsies are known for avoiding school, but also one that has designs on being a
doctor, which is met by family derision, who would prefer she become a musician
instead, or something more in the cultural tradition. Her father, a Gypsy Godfather, seems to
prefer that she simply get married instead, and has someone already in
mind. Irma, however, takes an instant
liking to Tadek and flirts with him openly, which nearly gets Tadek roughed up
by Gypsies who see him aligned with the thugs that attack them. With no backstory to this underclass rivalry,
it simply exists, though the viewer may not understand why. In much the same way, Tadek has a tendency
to peep at his sister in various states of undress, where there’s an underlying
attraction, the root of which we are never told. Tadek thinks all the guys she sees are
losers, but largely because he wants her for himself, which makes him appear mentally
unstable, as having designs on your sister can’t lead to anything good. Anka seems to understand this and makes
repeated attempts to kick him out, as having him around with boyfriends is just
asking for trouble. When Tadek discovers
Andrew at home screwing a prostitute, he makes a public scene drawing attention
to the moral hypocrisy (while secretly hiding his own), where Anka angrily
kicks Andrew out of the house.
In the absence of anyone else, there are moments when the
siblings get too close for comfort, where Tadek openly confesses his love,
suggesting he wants things the way they used to be, where she doesn’t stop and
knock some sense into the kid right then and there, instead she likes the
attention, even if it comes from her brother.
But when she gets back with Andrew later, apparently forgiving him,
Tadek gets a little crazy, becoming completely possessive to the point of
disturbance. It all comes to a head when
a political heavyweight comes to town to honor Andrew for funding a sports
stadium, an event where liquor is flowing and Anka gets dressed up in honor of
the special occasion, but when Andrew tries to use her as a special favor in
exchange for a political position, she’s had it with Andrew and his personal
ambitions. What eventually surfaces,
narratively, are mirror images between two women from differing backgrounds, both
victims of male subjugation, where Irma is urged to drop her career plans,
coerced into marrying someone her father likes, while Anka is used as sexual
bribery by a boyfriend, and the object of complete possession by her own
brother. What options do these women
have? One would think Irma was on the
right track, as education is power, leading to self-reliance and better economic
options. What’s unaddressed by the film
is the need for female protection, where Irma falls under the protection of her
father if she does what he wants, as without it, she’s subject to continual
harassment and debasement as a Gypsy, where a male dominated Eastern European
society has little incentive to intervene and offer either one protections.
