Everything we see in Polish filmmaking grandmaster Jerzy Skolimowski's puzzle film ostensibly occurs within 11 minutes on one afternoon in Warsaw. A beautiful but inexperienced actress visits the hotel of a conniving American producer (Richard Dormer), where she expects an audition while he plots a seduction. The woman's husband frantically searches the hotel for the producer's room. A group of giggly nuns buy hot dogs from a flirtatious vendor with a dark past. A young woman gets her dog back from an ex-boyfriend. A drug courier rushes through traffic. An ambulance crew hits one obstacle after another rushing to a woman in labor. A thief flees the scene of a crime. Skolimowski jumps from story to story, slowly drawing the fragments together as paths cross, characters converge, and key events echo through the individual stories. It's an existential mystery with a mix of social commentary, crime thriller, surveillance drama, and character study, all with an absurdist sensibility and ominous sense of doom, leading to a spectacular climax. Skolimowski directs this modernist thriller at a rapid pace, but what it all adds up to is rather sketchy. Is Skolimowski saying something about chance and fate and the human condition, or is he simply having fun with the possibilities of his cinematic mosaic? Regardless, this is a bravura piece of filmmaking with an offbeat sense of humor and an inventive interlocking plot. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)
11 Minutes
MPI, 83 min., in Polish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.98 Volume 31, Issue 6
11 Minutes
Star Ratings
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