Seasons Review: A Polish Drama Where Stage and Life Collide
In the new Polish comedy-drama Seasons, director and co-writer Michal Grzybowski crafts a narrative that delves into the turbulent lives of theatre actors, blending elements of classic plays with personal turmoil. The film, available on Viaplay from 5 February, presents a tepid yet intricate look at how art imitates life, though it often eschews humour for a drearier tone.
Plot Overview: From Peter Pan to Ibsen
The story centres on Marcin, portrayed by Łukasz Simlat, a self-righteous theatre actor embroiled in conjugal complications. Initially, he stars as Captain Hook in a production of Peter Pan, while his terminally unhappy wife Ola, played by Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza, announces her departure. Their argument spills into the theatre wings, where Ola reveals a past infidelity, with Ziemovit, the actor playing Peter Pan, looking sheepish as he is hoisted away on wires.
Months later, Marcin takes on the role of Torvald in Ibsen's A Doll's House, opposite his new love Ewa, portrayed by Wiktoria Filus. When Ewa falls down a trapdoor, Ola is substituted into the role, reigniting old tensions. The climax sees Marcin and Ola leading as Oberon and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a production critical to their company's future.
Direction and Tone: A Sombre Take on Relationships
Despite the agitated farce of the opening scenes, where the couple's spat erupts on stage during a children's panto, Grzybowski leans towards a more sombre interpretation of adult relationships, reminiscent of Ibsen. The film is stolidly literal in its exploration of life feeding into art, such as the enhanced rivalry between Hook and Pan, and Marcin's struggles to summon passion for Ola during rehearsals.
Light humour is sparse, limited to backstage bickering about DeNiro and Marcin's father's empty threats to quit the company. This lack of playfulness means Seasons falls short of the Shakespearean intertwining of world and stage it aims to evoke.
Performance and Technical Aspects
Łukasz Simlat delivers a technically complex performance, subtly tweaking his features to portray an actor who constantly lets life intrude on his craft, much to his method-advocating director's chagrin. However, Grzybowski's direction, including a wistful Woody Allen-esque outro, suggests commitment issues with tone, mirroring Marcin's own indecisiveness.
Overall, Seasons offers inspired flashes but remains a dreary chronicle of actors messing up their lives on and off stage, lacking the humour needed to balance its serious themes.
