Cztery noce z Anna (2008)

English title: Four Nights with Anna.

*SPOILERS*

A peeping-tom and his mischiefs. In flashbacks, we see how he witnessed the rape of the object of his present obsession.

Formally refined, structured in tightly staged set-pieces; the recurrence of clocks is perhaps not accidental, the film having the nature of a sophisticated mechanism, like a silent comedy. The impossibility of viewer identification with an aggressor is a well known fact, but this film may exemplify the extreme opposite problem, that of identifying with a perfect victim. I can't say I have enjoyed it much. It obviously flirts with the surreal, but it leaves a small window towards realism, contaminating the film with implausibilities such as: how can an innocent man be convicted for rape if after the crime the victim has only the rapist's semen in her?

The filmmaker seems to be fond of having male stalkers as main characters in his films (cf. Deep End)

Rating: 54