Every happy family is not happy in its own way. Quiet night is not just words that convey a mood, it is the name of perhaps the most famous Christmas Christian hymn known in English culture as Silent Night. In the pre-Christmas days, Kolenda “Tsiha Nights” sounds everywhere in Poland, convening families traditionally to gather together in a calm warm atmosphere at a vigilial table near the hoinka, break the bill, say warm sincere words to loved ones. But the festive night will not be for the young Adam (David Ogrodnik, familiar from the "Ida"), who was working in Holland, who came to his native village to his parents, brothers and sisters, neither bright nor quiet, contrary to traditional expectations. Could you? .
Initially, it seems that he himself carries the negativity behind the bosom to his native places, wanting to get the grandfather’s house at his sole disposal by all truths and untruths, while hiding the true purpose from those who, according to his intentions, would have to give up property in his favor, concealing including the true financial situation. But the closer it is to pastering, the clearer it becomes that some families cannot be saved by even the best traditions, and, worst of all, the members of such families are only partly to blame.
Against the background of a mother who is not interested in how things are going with her far-off son; a drunk father trying to tie up, broken; a sister who tolerates a husband who beats her; brothers who are devoid of aspirations: one is a traitor who does not have the strength to confess, the second is a frivolous hemp “plantator”; and, finally, a grandfather and grandmother who fall into insanity, detached from reality, the main character himself, who wants to risk the common “capital” in order to open a company in Holland, settle there, take away, do not seem to be so pregnant.
But not everything is so simple in the world where the words "good day" on the eve of the holiday neighbors answer: "H. y, not good." Do not forget that the mother, who raised several children in fact with the second parent always absent in the house, is so tired of life for the sake of others that she simply does not have the strength to do anything; the father, who left Poland to feel like a person, returned back to the “beaten dog” because he realized that only at home, despite all the economic hardships, he could feel ashamed of himself and that he is proud of his brave son; the sister, working tirelessly, resisted the fact that education is necessary for growth above a certain level, which she does not have; brothers simply remain at home, despite all the economic hardships, they could not be used to become the only by their parents.
Adam himself, just as easily as he acquires audience sympathies, easily parted with them, demonstrating absolute egocentricity and false self-interested attachment to the family, especially clearly expressed in the wishes of his mother - the guy simply does not find any individually directed words for her, in the end says that he does not know what she would like there for herself, but let it be so - the usual platitudes. Of course, as always in films about family celebrations, removing masks from the household, there will also be heart-to-heart conversations, the truth will slip through the lie, bring a cleansing fire pain, leave confusion, without completely killing the hope for the revival of the family, of course, very soon - after generations, because returning back to Holland Adam will remember only his younger sister, a girl whose real kinship did not shake anything that happened in his home.
The director himself - debutant in the feature film Peter Domalevsky, briefly expressing the idea of the film, said that family meetings look best in photographs, implying that the external well-being of such gatherings hides "family demons", made this idea a slogan and, apparently, because he did not avoid accusations of compatriots in "lusty". “Smarzowszczyzna” is a word derived from the surname of another Polish director Wojciech Smazowski, known for the sensational “Clear” and earlier “Volhynia” and “Wedding”, a kind of analogue that wanders in the Russian-speaking space of the word “black”, used by opponents of acute social statements to such a Russian director as Zvyagintsev. Personally, I did not think that such a label looks organic on “Silent Night”, yet the family from the film Domalevsky did not lose human traits and feelings completely, these are just confused “lost people”, but nothing says that there is no way out for them. However, I have never used such an unpleasant term to Zvyagintsev’s films, although I did not appreciate all of them highly. But the two directors will be united by something different: the importance of utterance against the background of a well-thought-out visual display of it, filled with symbolism. It's a memory-grabbing movie that hurts feelings. A bright beginning of Domalewski in directing, rightly noted in Poland with awards. I'll keep an eye on him.