Helen McCrory in Katarzyna Klimkiewicz's "Flying Blind", photo: Alter Ego Pictures
Tapping into Klimkiewicz’s interest in the influence and importance of social and political positions on people's intimate lives, Flying Blind portrays a romance between a 40 something drone engineer Frankie and a 24 year old Algerian student that is tainted by suspicions of the young man being a spy. Touted by Edinburgh Film Festival organisers as "a stylish mix" of love story and political thriller, it has been ambiguously received by critics: "ungainly but intriguing hybrid" writes Variety’s Guy Lodge, "[It’s] a bit like Hitchcock’s 'Suspicion', but with the question ‘Is he a murderer?’ replaced with ‘Is he a terrorist?’ This is also the point that I started to lose patience with the movie" comments Whatculture’s Adam Whyte, only to further conclude that he didn’t find the film particularly memorable. Screen Invasion’s Daniel Sarath on the other hand calls Katarzyna Klimkiewicz weaving between two widely contrasting genres "effortless" and done with "remarkable control". Eye For Film’s Andrew Robertson sums it up,
The film ably manages the switch from a romance into a thriller, but for all that does come across as a little reductionist - both love and international politics in the age of the Global War on Terror are complicated. Aircraft with variable functions (swing wings and the like) often suffer from weight issues, but here weightiness is a useful goal. As a human-scale story in that context, Flying Blind may not be pushing the envelope but it looks good trying.
Another significant aspect of the film seems to be the sense of suspense created by the Polish award-winning filmmaker. While using the word "modest" to describe the movie, Screendaily’s Allan Hunter also found the movie to be "absorbing" and said it "unfolds with a cool poise" and "maintains a sense of mystery throughout a trim running time". This air of mystery, also noticed by Andrew Robertson, "Flying Blind takes its time, but it knows where it's going, and it's very good", seems to be characteristic of Klimkiewicz, who in an interview for culture.pl explained that she likes watching and making movies with a well constructed narration and a deep metaphysical analysis of reality that goes beyond its era.
In his review, Guy Lodge goes on to question the natural development of the narrative by deeming it "bothersome that a woman as supposedly brilliant and no-nonsense as Frankie must become flutteringly suggestible to every conflicting account she hears in order to further the narrative". Nevertheless, not unlike other commentators, he praises Helen McCrory’s acting which "lends Frankie more strength and consistency than she might possess on paper". Just as much acclaim is garnered by cinematographer Andrzej Wojciechowski who according to Allan Hunter "crisply shot the film".
The strong images and clean composition intended to give the film a typical "Klimkiewicz" air appears to have been noticed by Andrew Robertson who called the filmmaker’s debut "promising" and paid attention to "a certain staginess here, not in a negative sense - more an awareness of tableaux, in that there are many static moments, often haunting - islands of balanced forces among dynamic instability".
Awards:
December 2012, Audience Award at the Bath Film Festival
Sources: Edinburgh Film Festival, Variety, Whatculture!, Screen Invasion, Screendaily, Eye For Film, Bath FF
Author: Marta Jazowska