The Dark House - Film Review

Truth? There is no such thing.

A morally distant and oddball outing from writer/director Wojciech Smarzoswki, The Dark House (Dom Zly) is a story piecing together a strange episode at a rural farmhouse and the disorganised investigation that follows.

Following the sudden death of his wife and the emotional breakdown in it's aftermath, zootechnician and heavy drinker Edek 'Edward' Srodon (Arkadiusz Jakubik) takes up a position at a state owned farm in the countryside, after selling all of his possessions in an effort to restart his life. En route to this new job, Edek winds up at another farm, owned by Zdzislaw (Marian Dziedal) and Bozena (Kinga Preis), and spends the night. Over the following few days, he strikes up a strong bond with them, particularly the troubled Zdizislaw, as he stays on a little longer. After concoting a scheme to brew and sell homemade moonshine, the two are on the cusp of becoming business partners. Until something goes horribly wrong.

Intercut with these scenes is the 'present', some time later. It is midwinter, and the very same farm is a crime scene, manned by a newly arrived team of People's Militia officers, led by Lieutenant Mroz (Gary Oldman lookalike Bartlomiej Topa). Along for the ride are a legal prosecutor, a pregnant wife and colleague husband team (evoking memories of Fargo, much like the snowcapped pastures), and a shady and politically minded superior keeping a close eye on both the case and Mroz, in a murky case of dirt digging and potential conspiracy. Add to that them bringing along a freshly shaven Edek, so he can recount the events that led to an immolated barn and three corpses. Things are far from simple, as the blurb suggests.

While the material itself sounds hard boiled and edgy on paper, one of the pillars of Smarzowski's interpretation is a quirky and occasionally inappropriate edge of dark humour, adding to the previously mentioned Coen Brothers influences. While the sharp bite of subtext allows plenty of jabs at the communist era engulfing 1970's Poland, it is little more than a backdrop and serves up red herrings rather than proving deeply relevant to the winding, chaotic story. If anything, more stock is put into the weakness and stupidity of the characters and, by extension, of people in general. Numerous funny background events give the film an emotion debt, while the constant heavy drinking of almost every player in the plot clues in to a epidemic still relevant.

Although he cleverly plays around with callbacks and Chekhov's Guns, one of the problems that Smarzowski runs into is tone displacement. The film starts at the beginning, with Edek narrating and introducing himself, and the background that led him to the titular farmhouse. It seems to be a personal journey film, one that cuts between time periods in explaining the events of the past and the consequences felt in the present. However, once the later period is established, we find that Edek is no longer the main character. While he may drive the flashbacks, it is Mroz who takes centre stage during the investigation, even allowing the chance to delve into some ultimately spurious subplots which don't match up to the mood of Edek's experiences.

While the farmhouse based plotline, with Edek growing familiar with his surroundings and new housemates, provide a gleeful dysfunction that levens the story, the crime scene segments contain anarchic comedy in a serious context, almost like a travelling circus moving through a warzone. It seems that each of the officers are ill-disciplined drunks, with no real care for their work, and no sense of professionalism. The honesty and authenticity of this is debatable, to put it mildly, but there is a jarring sense of weirdness about watching the overwhelmed Edek trying to retrace his steps through the dark house while trying to ignore the ridiculous behaviour of his captors.

Giving a few laughs and some nice cinematic touches, Smarzowski is indeed an intelligent filmmaker, and knows a good story. But for every step The Dark House takes towards excellence, it muddles the next, and ends up being bogged down by various clashes in approach and style, emerging as a mix between a comedy that's too serious, and a drama that's too comedic. While this makes for entertaining viewing, it doesn't make for engrossing cinema.

Overall, an enjoyable eccentric film, with much to enjoy, but one clearly conflicted and held back by it's inability to decide exactly what it is, and why.


7/10