Winter of the Crow review – Lesley Manville magnificently on edge in intriguing cold war thriller

Manville portrays a scholarly psychologist who becomes ensnared in a desolate high-rise environment in 1980s Warsaw. Eerie and surreal elements amplify the unsettling atmosphere.

Blending elements of a Cold War thriller with a Kafkaesque dream sequence, this film transports viewers to the grim monotony of Poland in 1981, as General Jaruzelski has recently imposed martial law in response to the unsettling surge of freedom sparked by the Solidarity trade unions. Directed by Kasia Adamik, the offspring of Agnieszka Holland (known for The Green Border), the movie is based on a story by Olga Tokarczuk titled Professor Andrews Goes to Warsaw.

Lesley Manville takes on the role of Professor Andrews, a British academic clinical psychologist (mirroring Tokarczuk's own profession) characterized by irritable and domineering traits; her one indulgence is a penchant for snapping Polaroid pictures. She has garnered a degree of fame from a book about dreams, despite asserting that she never experiences them herself. Andrews is summoned to deliver a lecture in Warsaw, where she starts to articulate perspectives on mental illness reminiscent of Laing or Foucault; however, her presentation is chaotically interrupted by students shouting that Poland itself functions as an oppressive institution. 开运体育网址 Continue reading...