ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

An enigmatic art theft thriller-cum-morality tale, the handsomely shot Hope unfolds in a sleek contemporary Warsaw and concerns an angelic-looking young man, Francis (Rafal Fundalej), who attempts to blackmail a gallery-owner Weber (Wojciech Pszoniak), the man responsible for stealing a precious painting from a church. Scripted by Krzysztof Piesiewicz, most famous for his collaborations with the late Krzysztof Kieslowski, this maintains its mysterious atmosphere throughout, yet it's muted in its emotional impact.

Despite being called Hope, this is a film haunted by despair. The pre-credits sequence shows a woman killed in a road accident, and it later transpires that the victim was Francis's mother. His father is so affected by the bereavement that he gives up being a renowned orchestra conductor and is now humble organist at the very church from which the prized painting was removed. And Francis's suicidal older brother is in jail, having killed two men.

"PERHAPS HE RELISHES THE IDEA OF PLAYING GOD"

The central mystery here is why Francis pursues an extortion campaign against the dangerously well-connected Weber, given that he doesn't want any money for his troubles. Perhaps he relishes the idea of playing God and of helping a perceived sinner atone for his wrongdoing. Or perhaps he relishes the thrill of risk-taking, like he does with his skydiving at a local airfield. Director Stanislaw Mucha makes imaginative use of bold colours to convey a sense of heightened reality, and elicits convincing performances from his cast. But one somehow remains strangely detached from these characters.

Hope is out in the UK on 18th April 2008.