Silent Land

The silence mentioned in the title is not idyllic at all, even though the movie is set in the summer on an Italian island where Anna (Agnieszka Żulewska) and Adam (Dobromir Dymecki) rent a house with a view. As we all know, the view from afar is beautiful, therefore, the couple prefers to keep their distance. A full fridge, full wallets, a burglar-proof door and equally tightly shut eyes guarantee protection from contact with reality until they discover that the swimming pool in the property doesn’t work. The fault, which they demand be fixed immediately, dangerously unseals their comfort zone, causing a leak. Chaos, fear and death invade the couple's comfortable, automated life, and the blissful quiet is exposed as a mere conspiracy of silence. Woszczyńska’s suspenseful movie allows boiling emotions to slowly rise under the smooth surface. But the threatened marital status quo is only a metaphor for the broader political alienation and indifference with which we have been observing floating skeletons for years. The theme of lost innocence is also referenced by the cast: Jean-Marc Barr, the protagonist of the classic The Big Blue, stars here as the diver.