Cudowne Miejsce

Miraculous Place
The Miracle Place

Poland 1994
produced by
Andrzej Stachecki (executive)
directed by Jan Jakub Kolski
starring Grazyna Blecka-Kolska, Adam Kamien, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Mariusz Saniternik, Elzbieta Debska, Lech Gwit, Michal Pawlicki, Tadeusz Szymków, Mieczyslaw Hryniewicz, Henryk Niebudek, Andrzej Grabowski, Miriusz Kilian, Elzbieta Kosecka, Pawel Okonski, Feliks Szajnert, Magdalena Dandourian, Wojciech Dabrowski, Franciszek Pieczka, Ewa Kamas, Wanda Weslaw-Idzinska, Krystyna Zylinska, Jolanta Kurach, Waldemar Kotas, Pawel Królikowski
written by Jan Jakub Kolski, music by Marcin Kizyzanowski

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Father Jakub (Adam Kamien) comes to rural Poland to take over his first parish - a place that's full of miracles, apparently, like statues of saints moving on their own and people showing spontaneous stigmata. Jakub couldn't be happier about this, which is why he fails to understand father Andzrej (Krzysztof Majchrzak) of the neighbouring parish, an older cynical and disillusioned man, who only wants all the miracles to vanish into thin air. Soon though, Jakub starts to understand when stigmata show on Grazynka (Grazyna Blecka-Kolska), who is known as a loose woman in these parts, and instead of trying to properly sort out the affair, he falls in love and even has sex with the woman. The townfolks meanwhile try to deal with everything miraculous happening their own way, freely mixing Christian and pagan beliefs in the process.

It's not long before Grazynka gets tired of the stigmata, but fortunately, the village idiot who's secretly in love with her knows of a lake in the vicinity that will heal all wounds. The stigmata gone should turn everything back to normal again, but this is where things really get out of hands, as the townfolks soon form a mob to come after her, which ends in a fire and the murder of father Andrzej, who curageously tried to stop the mob on his own ... and in the end, father Jakub leaves his parish, his place of miracles, as cynical amd disillusioned as father Andrzej has been ...

Miraculous Place has all the ingredients of a great film: Colourful characters brought to life by a great ensemble cast, a plot that's at the same time a wicked parable and a great template for satire, and perfect rural scenery that serves its story well - and yet, Miraculous Place is decidedly less than great: While the script is made up from many wickedly funny moments, the narrative quite simply lacks stringency and every now and again loses itself in subplots that don't really serve the main storyline, which in turn diminishes the story's power. Now don't get me wrong, the film is still perfectly watchable as it is, it just definitely isn't what it could, what it should have been.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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