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ARRAS 2022

Review: Wolka

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- Suspense, tension and secrets from the past are probed in Iceland by a dangerous Polish woman on parole, in the last movie by the late Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson

Review: Wolka
Olga Boladz in Wolka

"Radioactive and explosive". Akin to 244pu - the heaviest plutonium isotope which hasn’t changed since Earth’s creation and whose name is adopted by a rap group in Wolka [+see also:
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by Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, a director who passed away prematurely last year and who’s taking part in the 23rd Arras Film Festival’s competition - the atmosphere is becoming particularly onerous and electric on the small Icelandic island of Heimaey, in the wake of a Polish former jailbird who lands here on a mysterious quest for love and revenge.

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We become brutally acquainted with this heavily tattooed woman, Anka (Olga Boladz), in the Polish prison where she’s spent the past 15 years. Released on parole and back home in her deprived neighbourhood, she immediately sets out in search of a certain Dorota (Anna Moskal), who totally disappeared a short time after Anka’s incarceration. After applying pressure on reluctant former acquaintances, obtaining false identity papers, robbing a corner shop with a knife and then heading to the airport, stealing a car and catching a ferry, Anka, renamed Anna, soon turns up on Heimaey, the biggest island on the Icelandic archipelago of Vestmann. And several failed attempts later, she knocks on the door of Dorota who is now married with two children, one of whom is teenager Tommi (Jan Cieciara). The two women size one another up and stare each other down on the doorstep. Anna claims to be a childhood friend and Dorota’s husband (Eryk Lubos) ends up inviting her to eat with them. But what is the secret binding Anna and Dorota together, who mutually blackmail each other on the quiet? Finding herself a job in the fish factory where all the locals work, dangerous Anna ("you have to take what you want in life, it’s a jungle and only the fittest survive") slowly lifts the veil, sowing chaos all around her whilst also revealing some surprising emotions.

Propelled forwards by a highly intense first 20 minutes in a stifling, urban and often nocturnal environment, Wolka subsequently changes pace and luminosity, immersing itself in the spectacular Icelandic surrounds. A testament to confidence in managing suspense and creating surprises, the story (based on a screenplay penned by the director, together with Michal Godzic) relies on a no-frills mise en scène approach (prioritising effectiveness rather than attempting to revolutionise the genre) and a sturdy psychological thrust, which strikes a balance between the shady desire of his omnipresent lead character to wreak destruction and, ultimately, find redemption.

Wolka is produced by Iceland’s Sagafilm and Poland’s Film Produkcja alongside their compatriots at Sound Making and Human. The film is sold worldwide by The Playmaker Munich (formerly Arri Media International).

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(Translated from French)

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