Maciej Pieprzyca’s crime/drama I’m a Killer (‘Jestem
Morderca', 2016) is based on the real-life hunt for notorious Polish serial
killer known as ‘Zaglebie Vampire’, ‘The Silesian Vampire’ or simply
‘The Vampire’. Between 1964 and early 1970s, Zdzislaw Marchwicki was alleged to
have brutally killed fourteen women between the towns of Zaglebie Daborowskie
and Upper Silesia (south & southeastern part of Poland). Zdzislaw
Marchwicki was caught in 1972, sentenced to death in 1975 (after a long trial),
and was executed in 1977. During the trial and even after Marchwicki’s
execution there were many doubts about whether he is the real ‘vampire’ killer
or just framed by prosecution and police officers. Director Maciej Pieprzyca in
1998 made a TV documentary under the same title to explore the truth behind
Marchwicki’s conviction. He depicted how there were lot of inadequacies in the
investigation and how some evidence were totally fabricated. Now the director
returns to the same premise, but strongly focuses on human & societal side
of the incidents. Although the background material for I’m a Killer (2016)
remains the same, Mr. Pieprzyca has introduced fictional elements to smooth out
the narrative flow and thematic reflections.
The movie opens in 1977 in a mortuary with a man making face
cast from a fresh corpse. In the background Polish radio announces about
strong, prosperous, and thriving new Poland. This was the Polish era of silent media
as news programs were crowded with communist regime's propaganda of success. Although the
‘vampire’ serial-killer doesn’t boast a direct political connection, this
perceived image of an ideal state is repeatedly proven to have obstructed the
truthful path in the case. The prologue is cut to September 1972, a grey morning set in the backdrop of wet
industrial wasteland. A woman lies in the ground, her face caved in. She is the
tenth victim of the elusive serial killer. But the identity of this latest victim
brings huge media and government attention. She happens to be niece of First Secretary
of the Communist Party. The regional militia faced with immense pressure, names
young lieutenant Janusz Jasinski (Mirosław Haniszewski) as the head of investigative
team. The inexperienced Janusz feels he is up to the task, although would also be the perfect scapegoat for militia if he fails.
Janusz is bestowed with largest team of detectives although
apart from few rookie detectives most lack the sense of urgency to pursue the killer. Ambitious Janusz
seeks the help of English criminologist’s guidance to psychologically profile
the serial-killer, despite his superior’s disapproval. He also employs then
ground-breaking technology of computers to narrow down the suspects. Janusz
also announces a reward of one million zlotys for any one who could provide
clues about the murderer. Yet his strong sense of duty doesn’t stop the killer’s
lust for blood. The serial murderer breaks the skull of two more women,
one in the park, right under the nose of a police sting operation. Eventually the
police force zeroes-in on a bearded laborer Wieslaw Kalicki (Arkadiusz Jakubik) who initially
seems to fit the killer’s profile. Kalicka’s unfaithful wife Lidia (Agata Kulesza) testifies that her husband burned some shoes at the house. Kalicka,
apart from the thousand-yard stare and quick-temper, is characterized as a ardent football fan
and a very loving father (he has three children).
Meanwhile, Janusz is hailed as the national hero for
capturing ‘Vampire’. His celebrity status bestows him a new home, color TV,
etc. Previously, Janusz, his wife and little son lived in an old apartment
close to railway tracks which made the building shake whenever a train passes. Despite the rise in status, Janusz intuition says that Kalicks isn’t
the serial-killer. His friend & colleague say they have got the man since
the murders have totally stopped. Janusz only has circumstantial evidence and
unreliable testimonies. Moreover, he couldn’t get a signed confession from
Kalicka. The doubt that he hasn’t got the right man and the ensuing fear &
guilt to face the consequences pushes Janusz into the dark side. He initiates
an affair with a young hair-dresser. It naturally leads to strained
relationship with his family. The members of the detective team are too divided
in their opinion about Kalicka. Janusz will lose too much if he let the suspect
off, but it would affects his conscience to send this seemingly innocent man to death. What
follows is a distressing mental transformation, where Janusz is masterfully
manipulated as well as metamorphose into a master manipulator.
I’m a Killer starts off as the tale of serial-killer
hunting, in the vein of Memories of Murder or Zodiac. There’s narrative thread
dealing with police inefficiency in approaching serial murders and about the fog
of lies that surrounded then Polish political situation. Movies like Citizen X
and Memories of Murder similarly used serial-murders to explore the
totalitarian societies’ loss of basic human dignity and empathy. But I’m a
Killer soon distances itself from these specific notions of ineffective politicized
hierarchy to depict an indelible portrait of a individual whose dilemmas could
be seen as much from existential context than the historical context. However, director
Maciej Pieprzyca states in an interview that the film seen from political
viewpoint would highly resonate with Polish audience, since the country has again
started to move towards the same totalitarianism dealt in the narrative. In
fact, the protagonist's moral anxiety caused by morbid politics is compared to the early
works of Kieslowski, Zanussi, and Agnieszka Holland.
Director Pieprzyca previous acclaimed feature Life Feels
Good (2013) was an unsentimental yet uplifting tribute to human spirit. It
revolved around an intelligent young man suffering from cerebral palsy. Life
Feels Good enamored critics and movie-lovers, winning multiple-awards at
Montreal and Gdynia Film Festival. It was second-feature film for Piperzyca who
has praised for displaying artistic maturity so as to gracefully steer away
from the pitfalls of sentimental melodrama. In his third feature, director
Pieprzyca takes an entirely different path
to exhibit the grim price one pays for upholding false sense of fulfillment and
security. Furthermore, it is good that the director makes the protagonist
Janusz a complex and ambiguous man. Janusz Janiski definitely surrenders
himself to web of lies, but he doesn’t become a monster. There’s some remorse
left in him and it was elegantly expressed in the final scene (with the glassy
eyes of face cast staring back at him). Mr.
Pieprzyca’s creation of multilateral characters doesn’t just rest with Janusz.
Even the secondary characters like Lidia – the crude wife of alleged vampire
killer -- and Janusz’ friend Marek (Piotr Zulawski) isn’t trapped under
one-dimensional writing. Renowned Polish actress Agata Kulesza brilliantly plays
Lidia, conveying her own helplessness and hatred for husband in equal measures.
Haniszewski adeptly portrays the transformation from hero to anti-hero. He
effectively chronicles what it means for a remorseful person to trade morality
& dignity for better social position. Arkadiusz Jakubik who played the
father role in ‘Life Feels Good’ here dons the role of Kalicki. His poignant
performance adds fuel to the perturbing morality play.
Trailer
I’m a Killer (117 minutes) starts off as a crime thriller
and ends up being a stirring drama, addressing the timeless themes of morality
and justice.
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