Agnieszka Holland, interviewed by the Polish TV (TVN) promptly after the Oscars ceremony, admitted with a sad face: “it was really close”. And she added: “at least I lost to an important movie, and not this silly blown-out-of-content thing” (“In Darkness” lost to Iranian “Separation”; Holland referred to the fact that Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” lost to “The Artist” – a movie she clearly does not appreciate).
Emotions take over in the moments of defeat and it’s hard to smile when someone else has taken the award away. So this post scriptum is not to commend on “political correctness” of Ms. Holland’s statement. It really adds to the concern I was trying to express aside from my disappointment with the film.

What I’m really concerned about is certain way the movies like “In Darkness” are framed and talked about in media: almost denied their visual quality (or lack thereof), discussed mainly in context of non-formal values they address. “Importance” (i.e. the meaning, the topic, the message) is the key-category here: used to cut any confrontation off, or to “soften” the critique of otherwise average cinematography, or to expose the “true value” that should be recognized (sins committed as much oversears as in American reviews). Yet film is an artwork (embarrassingly trivial note, I thought…), and belongs to realm of visual arts, not journalism, unless it’s a documentary – and aesthetic implications of this fact should be acknowledged (and cherished!).

Instead, (in Polish media) we face the Barthian mythology in action: “In Darkness” is the Polish movie about Polish heroism during the WWII – therefore to nominate it to Oscar means that “The World” (I love this category in the Polish media discourse) acknowledged Polish heroism and Polish contribution to the cultural heritage of humanity, finally.
To challenge film’s visual power (to give the Oscar away) is to challenge the Polishness (and furthermore, the pantheon of the Righteous Among Nations alltogether) and to deny Poles’ concern about the Jews/Holocaust/Humanity (choose applicable). The only bearable excuse for this scandal is that “Separation” was – what a relief – an important movie, too…