Director: Paweł Borkowski
Writer: Pawel Borowski
Producer: Piotr Dzieciol
Starring: see IMDb profile
Country of Origin: Poland
MPAA Rating: NR
Running time: 110 min.

(4/5)

High concept films often fall victim to themselves as the audience is always well aware of the gimmick and therefore loses a little bit of faith in the film as it treads along not so lightly and ultimately becomes kind of dull; sacrificing substance for trickery (Russian Ark). Others, while displaying the gimmick badge proudly on their lapel, still manage to give us a full entertainment experience (Run Lola Run, Sliding Doors); thereby delivering on their initial promise of excitement and build upon their specific, unique idea to really see how far they can take the viewer down the proverbial rabbit hole without ever getting lost. Zero succeeds surprisingly well with this particular idea; so much so that the viewer might even forget about the gimmick and just stay focused on the characters and what kind of dirty little sub-plot they will take us into next.

The story is difficult to synopsize; mostly because there isn’t only one story, but several. The camera travels from one character to the next (probably about 30 of them) as they interact with one another throughout the picture. The characters seem to pass the camera to one another as a relay runner might pass a baton from one runner to another. One moment you’re following a business man cheating on his wife, the next he makes a phone call to his secretary and now you’re tracking along with her as she goes to get the sandwich he asked for. As she passes through a revolving door she might say “hello” to the doorman and just like that we’re now watching his character as he struggles with the unpleasant dilemma of how to come up with enough money to get his son the life or death transplant he so desperately needs. Don’t be surprised if you come across the secretary later on however, possibly involved in a robbery or Of course this synopsis is just my own example, but you can see how the possibilities are limitless in terms of characters and their paths in life. Sometimes those paths cross each other and other times some characters that you might not appear to be important at first, tend to be the lifeline for someone else later on in the film.

Of course the word “gimmick” has some negative connotations attached to it. It suggests that the filmmaker is using a tactic or device simply to get butts in the theater with little regard for the audience members themselves; a cash grab if you will. Fortunately with Zero, it seems fairly obvious that the filmmakers took care to at least try to tell a compelling story first, and then worried about how to execute the gimmick once a foothold in plot had been achieved. It works in so much as by the halfway mark of the film you’ve all but forgotten about the unconventional way of telling a story and are invested in each character and what destiny might have in store for them later.

The subject matter is mostly rather dark. There is light humor injected here and there, but generally each character is going through some sort of crisis or is involved in things that aren’t exactly on the up and up. Pedophilia, poverty, robberies, prostitution, abuse, abortion, infidelity and general despair are but some of the emotion tackled here. While the subject matter is fairly dark and there are instances in which the audience will likely gasp, relatively speaking Zero tends to hold back on some of its punches and circumstances (for better or worse for the viewer) could’ve been much more gut punching. Still, the entire spectacle is, in a word, joyless.

Coming up with ingenious ways to get from one seemingly unrelated character/storyline to the next can prove difficult but in most cases the filmmakers managed to come up with interesting ways to get people to interact that might not otherwise have: an ambulance ride, a phone call, a chance encounter in a shop or deliberate interactions between friends, family members and co-workers – and everything in between. At times ideas run out and there tends to just be more “passing of the narrative” technique used in stores where two characters just happen to be at the same time. This is a bit of a cop out, but somehow it manages to be believable and for the most part the interactions seem believable and clever.

The film isn’t without its flaws and not all of the dialogue and plot devices feel particularly inspired, but for a first time director this is a pretty exceptional and ambitious project that’s been put together here. Scores of characters, what must have been a storyboard and editing nightmare along with keeping the plot thread connections believable is all completed insanely well. This is one high concept that is able to stick to its guns and deliver a nice looking, interesting and ultimately fun (despite its darker turns) adventure; both in terms of an entertainment piece but also as a lesson in feature film making.