Palimpset

Production and year: Poland, 2006 Original title: Palimpset Genre: Thriller Director: Konrad Niewolski Screenplay: Igor Brejdygant Cast: Andrzej Chyra, Magdalena Cielecka, Robert Gonera Medical topics: psychiatry, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, alcohol addiction Description: A palimpsest is a manuscript written on previously used writing material from which the previous text has been erased, most often to reduce costs. In psychiatry, a palimpsest refers to a syndrome of symptoms occurring in alcohol addiction—a cluster of consciousness disorders involving complex actions that the person later cannot recall. It is one of the symptoms of the warning phase of this addiction. Konrad Niewolski’s film, known especially for “Symmetry,” transports us into a mysterious world where we don’t know what is an illusion, what is a hallucination, and what is a parahallucination. Not to mention reality. We accompany the film’s protagonist, Marek (Chyra)—a police inspector investigating the murder of his friend, also a police officer—through this world. The case looks difficult from the start, but as the circle of suspects narrows, it takes an unpredictable turn. Excellent acting—Chyra, Gonera, and Magdalena Cielecka, seen in the photo, who plays the protagonist’s mysterious lover. This film is stifling, dreamlike; watching it is downright “painful” at times. But it’s worth it. It’s really worth it.