Construction worker returns, meagrely equipped, from the US to his anti-Semitic Polish village to spend time with his farmer brother, whose eccentric collecting habits have, it emerges, estranged not only his wife and family but also the villagers. They and the brothers' late farming parents have a past that requires some detective work to unravel in an increasingly disconcerting history. Short on humour (unless that is supposed to be found in the amnesiac shopper) or much female interest, the story moves in fits and starts with some lack of confidence in its pacing, and occasional clunkiness of narrative and symbolism. An important line of comment, towards the end, fails to make the sub- titles. As so often happens, the director feels the need to substitute frantic for grim, and the characterisation of the brothers is not altogether sure-footed. More than competently shot by Pawel Edelman (The Pianist) with a muted teal-and-orange colour palette, but with somewhat clumsy Foley, this is not a delicate film: less Ida, more Straw Dogs, though thematically linked with both, and perhaps with a too- generous helping of Polish self-flagellation. Moral, but not uplifting, it ultimately leaves the viewer in a void. However, a robust, and certainly not wasted, 104 minutes.
