In terms of films that feature outsiders on the outskirts of society, Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Krolikiewicz’s stark 1973 film, Through and Through, is one of the best. Although the plot is routine, the filmmaking is anything but. It’s a bleak watch, but it also tells a truthful tale of society’s victims becoming its villains.
Buy Through and Through Blu-rayJan (Franciszek Trzeciak) and Maria (Anna Nieborowska) are a couple who meet at a wild, degrading party and instantly get married. However, they are both treated with utter disregard from everyone (including their own families) and are both very unlucky in their jobs. Struggling with poverty, alcoholism, and despair, they are pushed to their breaking points and commit a gruesome crime, one that will change the course of their lives forever.
Again, the plot is pretty standard, but the innovations in Krolikiewicz’s camera work gives the film an urgent poetry, one with frantic cuts and highly charged tracking shots to increase its rather disorienting but gorgeous cinematography. The two leads are both remarkable in their restraint, which is deliberate because society prevents the characters showing emotion. They are desensitized and broken by it. You actually understand why they go on to do the things they do, albeit really bad things. This does create a moral grey area. In this case, like I mentioned before, the victims become equal villains.
I am loving Radiance Films because they rescue movies that would otherwise remain buried under more mainstream cinema. Their new 2K restoration for Krolikiewicz’s most acclaimed film is incredible. It feels more inventive and dreamlike because of it. The special features are sparse but still worthy. They include a new interview with critic Michał Oleszczyk, and three short films by Krolikiewicz: Everyone Gets What They Don’t Need (1966), Brothers (1971), and Don’t Cry (1972). There is also a booklet with a great new essay by critic Ela Bittencourt.
Despite the brief running time, I was still hypnotized by the film’s bleak beauty and the realistic portrait of misfits. It doesn’t wear out its welcome and is all the more revealing in its structure. If you love films like Through and Through, then this Radiance release definitely has you covered.
