Amator (1979)

English Title: Camera Buff.
Synopsis: A man that is about to become a father buys a small camera to film his baby and subsequently is invited to make a documentary in the factory he works at. From then on, he will become more and more involved with making films.
Appraisal: This drama addresses the problems that a man faces because of his hobby of filmmaking. The context here is communist Poland, and many problems are related to that political regime, in particular the attempts at censorship on his films. He also faces conjugal problems, but I think this aspect of the drama was particularly annoying and unconvincing, with a wife that behaves like a real bitch without much justification. The political portion of the movie seems to imply that the consequences of the flow of information in a nondemocratic society are complex and hard to predict, possibly causing more harm than good. It's hard to assess whether this is the personal opinion of the filmmaker; he might be simply showing the company director's point of view, which the main character is too weak to oppose. Of course we know today that one of the reasons that led communism to eventually collapse and be replaced by democratic regimes was precisely the access to information, which was impossible to control. Regardless of any hypothetical ideological or philosophical subtext, the fact remains that the film is inexcusably dull, lingering endlessly on petty domestic problems or in equally petty discussions about amateur filmmaking. Some of the filmmaker's points are painfully obvious -- e.g. a person's ambitions may be detrimental to his personal life as he was used to -- but he also wants to state that filmmaking may lead to a dangerous detachment of one's own life, and he goes to pathetic lengths to show that our hero is becoming too obsessed with his new pastime, making him "frame" his wife with his hands in the very moment she is leaving him -- how unsubtle can you get? The final shot seems to imply that the main character gave up on the outer world, and decided to look at himself instead -- apparently the only thing that he can safely do without any qualms of conscience. To be honest, I don't know whether there is a point trying to be made -- perhaps this is just the story of a man who didn't have enough courage or conviction to pursue his interests. Anyway, the filmmaker has put up an earnest effort in telling a coherent story, with good actors and technical competence; unfortunately he falls short of achieving satisfactory results -- his story wasn't interesting enough, and any obscure thesis that he could be trying to defend will seem borderline reactionary to audiences who live in countries where the free flow of information and images has become commonplace, for good (mostly) or for bad.
Rating: 46