Holy pierogi!

>> The Polish Film Fest returns triumphantly

by MATTHEW HAYS

The Polish Film Festival was seen as an opportunity to highlight this small but significant national cinema, but was also viewed by organizers as a bold experiment. Would there really be enough broad interest by Montreal cinema-goers to pack houses with a fest with this specific a bent?

Indeed, it appears there was more than enough interest, as the organizers are back with a larger selection of various Polish movies, entries that will screen with both English and French subtitles and, oddly enough, in English with Polish subtitles. This year's highlights include:

Tomasz Konecki's comedy Some Like It Cold allows for a satiric filmmaker's-eye view of the movie medium. A group of three filmmakers pitch their project to a wealthy producer, who's soon criticizing everything they come up with. This smart movie allows for a skewering of all sorts of genres and movie ticks, of both the international and Polish variety.

Mommie dearest rears her ugly head in Bellissima, in which a hard-driving mother pushes her young daughter into the often-ugly world of modelling. The 15-year-old Mary does have beautiful hair and is a looker, but is mom foisting her into a business in which she doesn't really belong? Director Artur Urbanski had a huge international hit on the festival circuit with his last film, the short Stink.

Kidnapping again goes awry in the quirky comedy Money Isn't Everything. Marek Kondrat is fine in the lead here as a man who decides to give up his lucrative business as a wine merchant and aspire to the idealistic goal of becoming a philosopher, a switch neither his wife nor partner likes very much at all. Soon after, Kondrat is kidnapped for ransom, but Kondrat realizes he's on his own as his wife and partner know he's no longer worth a penny. An odd little take on matrimony, friendship and money worship.

Poland has long produced some of the most intriguing experimental animation, and this year's fest features the endearing animated film Mr. Blot's Triumph, in which a down-and-out cartoonist imagines an animated universe full of his favourite characters. Something for those who may wish to escape the current tyranny of Pixar. From noted Polish animator Krzysztof Gradowski.

This year's fest will also present a salute to Agnieszka Holland, the exceptionally talented director behind such films as Europa Europa, The Secret Garden and Washington Square. The tribute, which will screen at the Cinémathèque québécoise, focuses on the filmmaker's early works, including Acteurs provinciaux, Cos za cos and Enfants de dimanche. :

The second annual Montreal Polish Film Festival screens this Friday, Nov. 22 at the Imperial and Cinémathèque québécoise and continues Nov. 25. The Holland tribute continues until Dec. 2. Info: www.polfilmfestival.com