FIRST SUCCESSES OF POLISH-ROMANIAN ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY
“Beautiful artwork and a powerful story are the key elements of animated docu 'Crulic - The Path to Beyond'” - reads an article from Variety's online edition about a new Polish-Romanian co-production that recently received a special mention from the International Federation of Film Societies at the 64th Locarno Film Festival.
“Crulic - The Path to Beyond” directed by Anca Damian combines techniques of animation, fiction, and documentary. It evokes the real events that took place in Kraków between 2007-2008: 33-year-old Romanian Claudiu Crulic was accused of stealing and sent to a detention centre. Driven by the desire to prove his innocence and expose the miscarriage of justice, the man began a four-month hunger strike. On 18th January 2008 Crulic died of pneumonia and myocarditis.
However, the makers of “Crulic - The Path to Beyond” stress that the film's message surpasses its factual character. “Crulic...” is a film about love lacking. About a man, who no one listened to and who felt that he was left to his own devices. This is a story of an individual's solitude in the face of the system” - producer Arkadiusz Wojnarowski said to the Polish Press Agency. Director Anca Damian states: I did a lot of research around the subject, but the most important thing to me was an attempt to make a film about how a man dies in front of other people. Although the course of events could have been changed, no one took pity on the forlorn prisoner, and they all acted in accordance with thelaw. (Source: www.rp.pl, article available at: http://www.rp.pl/artykul/694807.html).
“Crulic - The Path to Beyond” has an interesting visual style – it compounds documentary and fictional elements, archival television accounts, photographs, and various animation techniques. We planned on producing a full-length docudrama - said Arkadiusz Wojnarowski during an interview for www.pisf.pl, - around the same time when Steve McQueen's Hunger was released. It depicted a hunger strike in a more or less similar way in which our director wanted to do that. She then suggested to incorporate animation so as to differentiate her film and the aforementioned production.
The picture was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, Ferdinand Magellan Foundation in Wrocław, and the Regional Film Fund. The music score composed by Piotr Dziubek and the sound post-production carried out by Alvernia Studios also accentuates Polish contribution to the film.
The first success of the Polish-Romanian co-production is a prestigious special mention received from the International Federation of Film Societies at the 64th Locarno Film Festival – one of the most important film events in the world – that took place between 3-13 August.
What is more, the review of “Crulic...” appeared on the online edition of the most popular in the U.S.A. magazine Variety, which comprises a matchless source of the latest news from the world of art, entertainment and show business. You can find its fragment below:
Thesp Vlad Ivanov voices the first-person narration from the grave, recounting Claudiu Crulic's life in detail and providing a psychological profile that probably offers greater glimpses into character than a traditional docu format could. (…)
By early adulthood, Crulic was making frequent trips to Poland, where he'd buy low-cost goods and sell them back home in northern Romania. Then in 2007, he was arrested for stealing a judge's wallet; although it was later proven he was in Italy at the time of the theft, authorities dismissed his protestations of innocence, believing previous arrests for theft established his present guilt. Letters to the Romanian consul in Poland were either ignored or replied to in a condescending manner (…).
Crulic went on a hunger strike, yet authorities disregarded his actions, with prison doctors claiming he was in good health despite his gradual deterioration. (…) After Crulic's death, authorities tried to wash their hands of responsibility, though eventually a few heads rolled.
Anca Damian ("Crossing Dates") tells the story in a relatively straightforward manner, letting the information sink in rather than trying to manipulate sentiment toward righteous indignation. (…) A beautifully drawn sequence at the end, of Crulic's shroud floating away, works against the buildup of outrage and stymies a sense of catharsis until the credits sequence and the insertion of real news reports, which bring home the shockingly cold-blooded nature of the responsible parties. Animation is especially appealing, featuring attractive watercolors and lovely washes forming the background to an imaginative use of drawings, cutouts and photos. Even if overloaded at times, the individual frames are beautifully rendered and clear, accompanied by Piotr Dziubek's seamless and understated compositions. (…)
(By Jay Weissberg)