Close your eyes and imagine what Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” would evolve into if its tone were more uplifting than unsettling and its protagonist wasn’t preying on humans but trying to heal them. That new material would remain a film about a mysterious entity coming into a foreign land, or planet, and peculiarly engaging with its inhabitants—who may never unearth the origin or exact motivations of their unannounced guest.
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Adorned with effectively subtle sci-fi undercurrents, Polish drama “Never Gonna Snow Again,” directed by Malgorzata Szumowska and co-directed by Michal Englert, offers that exact narrative variant in the form of a hypnotic viewing experience that awakens all senses through our eyes. Szumowska, who’s often dealt in emotionally ambiguous fare (“The Other Lamb,” “Body”), brought her former DP, Englert, on as a her main creative partner, making the plot and imagery feel even more gorgeously intertwined in this effort.
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“Stranger Things” star Alec Utgoff capitalizes on his Ukrainian roots to play masseuse Zhenia, an immigrant born dangerously close to the Chernobyl catastrophe with unexplainable abilities—among them speaking multiple languages (perhaps all of them)—and who sports a chiseled physique. Identical houses in a Polish gated community welcome him immediately upon arrival with a roster of well-off clients eager to find an alternative to treat the psychic wounds and physical illnesses they’ve been taming with drugs.
Though they begin on the flesh, with his strong fingers expertly, even magically extracting the pressure from tense muscles, Zhenia’s massages touch the depths of the mind. Charmingly enigmatic, Utgoff’s portrayal of the observant and nearly silent healer conceals, behind his humble smiles and modesty, whether he is merely curious about these encounters or if each of them is a premeditated piece in a larger plan. Adults fail to fully recognize his otherworldly capabilities, but children and animals sense it.
Painted with the warm tones of the late afternoon sunlight by Englert himself, in a multi-duty role that also included lensing the project, each session carries an intoxicating ethereal quality as the inner lives of a alcoholic mother (“Ida” and “Cold War” actress Agata Kulesza), a man suffering from cancer and his lonely wife, a stern ex-soldier, and a woman whose sole source of companionship are her dogs come into view. Zhenia looks at all them quizzically, but never with judgment.
A snap of his fingers sends them on a trip into their subconscious, a realm visually expressed as a moonlight-drenched forest where their fears and regrets materialize for them to confront. These exuberant passages, at once dreamlike and unnerving (which could be said about the film as a whole), contrast with the luminous memories Zhenia has of his late mother while alone in the grey apartment complex where he’s taken residence.
Those glimpses into his past, where the power of telekinesis first manifested in him, feel as if Superman was remembering Krypton—like an extraterrestrial emissary looking back while on a mission to help mankind, Throughout, a rousing soundtrack comprised of classical pieces (played on the piano or present as doorbell ringtones) and even a live performances of “Vois sur ton chemin” from the French movie “The Chorus,” draws us even more intensely to Zhenia and the effect he has on people.
As we fall deeper into the trance induced by the movie’s audiovisual spell, we may partially empathize with those who have become reliant on the visitor’s hands and techniques to find a sense of stability in their chaotic lives.
“Never Gonna Snow Again” replicates the soothing effect of its hero’s presence via cinematic tools, namely the evocative cinematography, for audiences to bask in a bit of the same peacefulness. In turn, this sensorial exercise speaks to Zhenia’s symbolic notions around snow, which he sees as a comforting cleanser that allows living creatures to pause, recharge, and reconnect with themselves. Near the end, this reference emerges explicitly, but the directors show restrain by keeping it entrancing and avoiding overt sentimentality.
Ultimately, the more Zhenia lends his services the more he becomes an object of desire and intrigue among his fans. A messiah of sorts, only there while he is needed, he exposes their insecurities and anxieties so that they can face them, but doesn’t offer a miracle cure. But the sad emptiness of the bourgeoisie is far from revelatory, or compelling; therefore, some of the characters and their conflicts fail to read as urgent or special. Similarly, the concept of an agent of change transforming a disillusioned group seems very familiar, and once some of the details surrounding this are somewhat evidenced, a bit of the allure is lost.
Auspiciously, Szumowska and Englert, also co-writers, don’t entirely render Zhenia an inscrutable token of politeness and selflessness, but allow him to break character and exhibit some unvarnished humanity. Late in the film, he gets drunk with the security guard, the only other working-class mutual we see him interact with. For a few moments Zhenia rejects the respectability and almost holy aura that his clients have come to expect from him. All along, Utgoff convincingly performs an individual mostly devoid of outward emotions.
Even as the seams come apart and begin to show there’s a more commonplace premise than we might have thought, “Never Gonna Snow Again” continues to bewitch with its exquisite frames and the sensations these evoke beyond the concrete specifics of the story. Hitting all the right marks of an elegant European art house feature with just enough intellectual complexity without being too obtuse, the decision to select it as Poland’s official entry for the upcoming Academy Awards makes absolute sense. [B+]
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