In 1961, Stanislaw Rozewicz created the novella film "Birth Certificate" in cooperation with his brother, Taduesz Rozewicz as screenwriter. Such brother tandems are rare in the history of film but aside from family ties, Stanislaw (born in 1924) and Taduesz (born in 1921) were mutually bound by their love for the cinema. They were born and grew up in Radomsk, a small town which had "its madmen and its saints" and most importanly, the "Kinema" cinema, as Stanislaw recalls: for him cinema is "heaven, the whole world, enchantment". Tadeusz says he considers cinema both a charming market stall and a mysterious temple. "All this savage land has always attracted and fascinated me," he says. "I am devoured by cinema and I devour cinema; I'm a cinema eater." But Taduesz Rozewicz, an eminent writer, admits this unique form of cooperation was a problem to him: "It is the presence of the other person not only in the process of writing, but at its very core, which is inserperable for me from absolute solitude." Some scenes the brothers wrote together; others were created by the writer himself, following discussions with the director. But from the perspective of time, it is "Birth Certificate", rather than "Echo" or "The Wicked Gate", that Taduesz describes as his most intimate film. This is understandable. The tradgey from September 1939 in Poland was for the Rozewicz brothers their personal "birth certificate". When working on the film, the director said "This time it is all about shaking off, getting rid of the psychological burden which the war was for all of us. ... Cooperation with my brother was in this case easier, as we share many war memories. We wanted to show to adult viewers a picture of war as seen by a child. ... In reality, it is the adults who created the real world of massacres. Children beheld the horrors coming back to life, exhumed from underneath the ground, overwhelming the earth."
The principle of composition of "Birth Certificate" is not obvious. When watching a novella film, we tend to think in terms of traditional theatre. We expect that a miniature story will finish with a sharp point; the three film novellas in Rozewicz's work lack this feature. We do not know what will be happen to the boy making his alone through the forest towards the end of "On the Road". We do not know whether in "Letter from the Camp", the help offered by the small heroes to a Soviet prisoner will rescue him from the unknown fate of his compatriots. The fate of the Jewish girl from "Drop of Blood" is also unclear. Will she keep her new impersonation as "Marysia Malinowska"? Or will the Nazis make her into a representative of the "Nordic race"? Those questions were asked by the director for a reason. He preceived war as chaos and perdition, and not as linear history that could be reflected in a plot. Although "Birth Certificate" is saturated with moral content, it does not aim to be a morality play. But with the immense pressure of reality, no varient of fate should be excluded. This approached can be compared wth Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Blind Chance" 25 years later, which pictured dramatic choices of a different era.
The film novella "On the Road" has a very sparing plot, but it drew special attention of the reviewers. The ominating overtone of the war films created by the Polish Film School at that time should be kept in mind. Mainly owing to Wajda, those films dealt with romantic heritage. They were permeated with pathos, bitterness, and irony. Rozewicz is an extraordinary artist. When narrating a story about a boy lost in a war zone, carrying some documents from the regiment office as if they were a treasure, the narrator in "On the Road" discovers rough prose where one should find poetry. And suddenly, the irrational touches this rather tame world. The boy, who until that moment resembled a Polish version of the Good Soldier Schweik, sets off, like Don Quixote, for his first and last battle. A critic described it as "an absurd gesture and someone else could surely use it to criticise the Polish style of dying. ... But the Rozewicz brothers do no accuse: they only compose an elegy for the picturesque peasant-soldier, probably the most important veteran of the Polish war of 1939-1945." "Birth Certificate" is not a lofty statement about national imponderabilia. The film reveals a plebeian perspective which Aleksander Jackieqicz once contrasted with those "lyrical lamentations" inherent in the Kordian tradition. However, a historical overview of Rozewicz's work shows that the distinctive style does not signify a fundamental difference in illustrating the Polish September. Just as the memorable scene from Wajda's "Lotna" was in fact an expression of desperation and distress, the same emotions permeate the final scene of "Birth Certificate". These are not ideological concepts, though once described as such and fervently debated, but rather psychological creations. In this specific case, observes Witold Zalewski, it is not about manifesting knightly pride, but about a gesture of a simple man who does not agree to be enslaved.
The novella "Drop of Blood" is, with Aleksander Ford's "Border Street", one of the first narrations of the fate of the Polish Jews during the Nazi occupation. The story about a girl literally looking for her place on earth has a dramatic dimension. Especially in the age of today's journalistic disputes, often manipulative, lacking in empathy and imbued with bad will, Rozewicz's story from the past shocks with its authenticity. The small herione of the story is the only one who survives a German raid on her family home. Physical survial does not, however, mean a return to normality. Her frightened departure from the rubbish dump that was her hideout lead her to a ruined apartment. Her walk around it is painful because still fresh signs of life are mixed with evidence of annihilation. Help is needed, but Mirka does not know anyone in the outside world. Her subsequent attempts express the state of the fugitive's spirits - from hope and faith, moving to doubt, a sense of oppression, and thickening fear, and finally to despair.
At the same time, the Jewish girl's search for refuge resembles the state of Polish society. The appearance of Mirka results in confusion, and later, trouble. This was already signalled by Rozewicz in an exceptional scene from "Letter from the Camp" in which the boy's neighbour, seeing a fugitive Russian soldier, retreats immediately, admitting that "Now, people worry only about themselves." Such embarassing excuses mask fear. During the occupation, no one feels safe. Neither social status not the aegis of a charity organisation protects against repression. We see the potential guardians of Mirka passing her back and forth among themselves. These are friendly hands but they cannot offer strong support. The story takes place on that thin line between solidarity and heroism. Solidarity arises spontaneously, but only some are capable of heroism. Help for the girl does not always result from compassion; sometimes it is based on past relations and personal ties (a neighbour of the doctor takes in the fugitive for a few days because of past friendship). Rozewicz portrays all of this in a subtle way; even the smallest gesture has significance. Take, for example, the conversation with a stranger on the train: short, as if jotted down on the margin, but so full of tension. And earlier, a peculiar examination of Polishness: the "Holy Father" prayer forced on Mirka by the village boys to check that she is not a Jew. Would not rising to the challenge mean a death sentance?
Viewed after many years, "Birth Certificate" discloses yet another quality that is not present in the works of the Polish School, but is prominent in later B-class war films. This is the picture of everyday life during the war and occupation outlined in the three novellas. It harmonises with the logic of speaking about "life after life". Small heroes of Rozewicz suddenly enter the reality of war, with no experience or scale with which to compare it. For them, the present is a natural extension of and at the same time a complete negation of the past. Consider the sleey small-town marketplace, through which armoured columns will shortly pass. Or meet the German motorcyclists, who look like aliens from outer space - a picture taken from an autopsy because this is how Stanislaw and Taduesz perceived the first Germans they ever met. Note the blurred silhouettes of people against a white wall who are being shot - at first they are shocking, but soon they will probably become a part of the grim landscape. In the city centre stands a prisoner camp on a sodden bog ("People perish likes flies; the bodies are transported during the night"); in the street the childern are running after a coal wagon to collect some precious pieces of fuel. There's a bustle around some food (a boy reproaches his younger brother's actions by singing: "The warrant officer's son is begging in front of the church? I'm going to tell mother!"); and the kitchen, which one evening becomes the proscenium of a real drama. And there are the symbols: a bar of chocolate forced upon a boy by a Wehrmacht soldier ("On the Road"); a pair of shoes belonging to Zbyszek's father which the boy spontaneously gives to a Russian fugitive; a priceless slice of bread, ground under the heel of a policeman in the guter ("Letters from the Camp"). As the director put it: "In every film, I communicate my own vision of the world and of the people. Only then the style follows, the defined way of experiencing things." In Birth Certificate, he adds, his approach was driven by the subject: "I attempted to create not only the texture of the document but also to add some poetic element. I know it is risky but as for the merger of documentation and poety, often hidden very deep, if only it manages to make its way onto the screen, it results in what can referred to as 'art'."
After 1945, there were numerous films created in Europe that dealt with war and children, including "Somewhere in Europe" ("Valahol Europaban", 1947 by Geza Radvanyi), "Shoeshine" ("Sciescia", 1946 by Vittorio de Sica), and "Childhood of Ivan" ("Iwanowo dietstwo" by Andriej Tarkowski). Yet there were fewer than one would expect. Pursuing a subject so imbued with sentimentalism requires stylistic disipline and a special ability to manage child actors. The author of "Birth Certificate" mastered both - and it was not by chance. Stanislaw Rozewicz was always the beneficent spirit of the film milieu; he could unite people around a common goal. He emanated peace and sensitivity, which flowed to his co-workers and pupils. A film, being a group work, necessitates some form of empathy - tuning in with others.
In a biographical documentary about Stanislaw Rozewicz entitled "Walking, Meeting" (1999 by Antoni Krauze), there is a beautiful scene when the director, after a few decades, meets Beata Barszczewska, who plays Mireczka in the novella "Drops of Blood". The woman falls into the arms of the elderly man. They are both moved. He wonders how many years have passed. She answers: "A few years. Not too many." And Rozewicz, with his characteristic smile says: "It is true. We spent this entire time together."
成功靠实力，运气，机会，等等等等，很多东西，失败只靠欲壑难填
好看，工整，优雅，吉尔莫·德·托罗真的拍出了上世纪四十年代好莱坞流金岁月的电影范儿，服饰布景摄影都极尽典雅，太对我胃口了。
陀螺这回好像想事无巨细，面面俱到的把故事呈现出来，可结果就是长的离谱，反而放大了故事的缺点。但服化道还是一如既往的精致，另外鲁妮玛拉很美（*/∇＼*）。
大牌演员组合，德尔托罗审美趣味，问题是作品是一部敷衍的行货
【C】拥有一部翻拍作品的最大美德：只是拿来剧本做底，表达上看不见前作身上的一丝影子，彻彻底底的在解构与重构。srds，最后所呈现的，可以，但没必要。陀螺精心加入了大量的元素，最后却适得其反，试图丰满人物弧线以及服化道具上的精美构造只是画蛇添足，完全忘却了同《水形物语》简单的魅力，最后臃肿不堪。甚至演员的表演都一样，过犹不及。原作的一切都显得那么恰到好处。
因为评分比较低所以期待不大，但是居然看完觉得很惊喜。确实时长是短板，很多地方可以精简缩到两个小时的。导演本人因为太爱自己的场景设计和服化道，所以镜头都给的很长很久而且拉的很远，导致节奏感觉缓慢。但是水形物语和潘神的迷宫都是差不多的表达，不能因为这个是crime thriller就硬要求人家快节奏。喜欢guillermo del toro的人应该不会觉得不喜欢。
wonder how the meek was made?
托罗拍出了一种精致的肮脏，但无趣，也许把故事交给科恩兄弟拍会精彩很多吧。
因为评分比较低所以期待不大，但是居然看完觉得很惊喜。确实时长是短板，很多地方可以精简缩到两个小时的。导演本人因为太爱自己的场景设计和服化道，所以镜头都给的很长很久而且拉的很远，导致节奏感觉缓慢。但是水形物语和潘神的迷宫都是差不多的表达，不能因为这个是crime thriller就硬要求人家快节奏。喜欢guillermo del toro的人应该不会觉得不喜欢。
看爽了，比《soho》好看太多了，我恨不得他拍成电视剧。
美术服装很出彩，每个演员都在飙演技。故事情节很简单，没有什么特别的高潮，但并不影响陀螺讲故事的能力。
男主前半段看着比后半段聪明太多，有种铺陈了很多就这的感觉
7分。没看过老版，感觉还不错。本来是冲着凯特·布兰切特和鲁妮·玛拉的对手戏去的，结果俩人饰演的角色在电影中几乎没有交流，只有大概两场戏出现在同一个画面内，有些遗憾。不过陀螺营造的这个复古又带有一丝诡异和惊悚的故事背景还是挺迷人的。剧情方面比较普通，马戏团的部分时长占比过多，导致看前面的时候有点不明所以，剧情也迟迟进入不了正题。一个男骗子与女助手联合女骗子骗有钱人，反而被女骗子设计的故事。结局虽然形成一个闭环，但宁愿去当“怪人”也不愿找个哪怕出卖体力的工作，我不太能理解。如果陀螺不当导演，应该很愿意在马戏团里工作吧。
没差那么多，就差一点点——骗老头失败、医生处翻脸本该是最高潮处却差一把火，否则起承转合会顺畅许多。另外就是简中译名非常不行还带误导性。
复古精致，视觉的饕餮盛宴！骗中骗、蛇蝎美人、西装革履的斯文败类、一场阴谋以及一段危险关系，能看出陀螺对好莱坞黄金时代的缅怀与执念。也许是“不合时宜”的电影，但也是如今这个充斥着快餐文化的时代所需要的电影。带着五味杂陈的心情写下这段感受，但也许再过几分钟我就只在乎《奇异博士2》《蜘蛛侠》们到底能不能上？！
观感还不错，演员们的演技都在线，剧情也颇有亮点，特别是第一幕在马戏团的戏成功拍出了西方老式的神话般的诡秘感。但虽说是翻拍，这种故事放到现在显得比较过时，我更倾向于大改会比较好。马戏团和城市之间的转换稍微有些割裂，全片的节奏也很拖沓，铺垫得太详细太冗长了，完全没有必要凑两个半小时，导致直到最后半个小时节奏开始滚动起来以后才能完全入戏。
后半部分节奏把控得很好，明知道where it would go我们还是不由自主地屏住呼吸。
道德寓言故事感太强，各种意义上的陈词滥调。
陀螺讲故事太没说服力了，美术也就勉勉强强。人物跑来跑去跑不出片场，肉眼可见的省钱，卡司阵容浪费观众一片赤诚。陀螺别谋害剧本了你还是专心去画画吧～
Guillermo del Toro這一次最大的錯誤，應該是過度放縱自己了吧，馬戲團部分戲份過長，導致結構不平衡，前後割裂如兩部電影，而且這一次連符號也沒玩好，我一度以為他在《水形物語》玩水之後要開始玩火了，然而火這一符號又在電影中段消失了許久。明明聚集了那麼多優秀演員，卻把角色都寫得頗為扁平，結果沒有一個有正常水平的發揮，暴殄天物了。
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