‘Corki Dancing‘ (‘Daughters of Dance’) by the Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska, distributed in the English-speaking world as ‘The Lure’, is part of the increasingly rich category of films that refuse categorization or, if you want, creatively combine different genres and add something different atop. Poland has probably the most solid film school in Eastern Europe, characterized by a certain dose of sobriety and conservatism. This is one more reason why this film, which we saw at the Polish Film Festival at the local cinematheque, arouses curiosity and surprises its audiences.
The story imagined in the script written by Robert Bolesto takes place in Poland in the 1980s, during the breakdown of communism and the beginning of the transition to capitalism. The escapism of dance and strip clubs dominates the landscape. The emergence from the river that runs through Warsaw of two mermaids just our of their teens, does not produce much astonishment, especially when they fit very naturally into the world and the ‘artistic’ programs of the clubs. Mermaids and Tritons find their place as ‘minorities’ among human beings, but if those who use them for mercantile purposes or make the mistake of falling in love with them do not know Greek mythology, they will also ignore the dangers that are camouflaged by their tempting appearance and their delusional songs. The screenwriter and the film director have made full use of the ambiguities of the legends, describing a kind of violent cultural conflict between realms, amplified by the fact that the mermaids in the film sometimes also get vampire appetites. This whole story is wrapped in musical sequences well matched with the story’s unfolding, a sign that we are in the cinematic convention of musicals, which should diminish the nuances of horror.
So we are dealing with a story with mermaids but we are far from the world of Disney and with a film with musical elements, horror, coming to age, militant feminism, social criticism, and everything is told with explicit nuances of kitsch with no claim of credibility. The combination works unexpectedly well. Since Tarantino, kitsch as a cinematic style is as legitimate as it can be. Director Agnieszka Smoczynska, at her first feature film, has chosen an excellent team of actors and has guided them well in a world faithfully recreated according to the appearance of Poland 30 years ago, but also including an implicit tribute to David Lynch. The story does not hesitate to shock from the beginning and continue to do so throughout the duration of the film, but the mix of explicit horror conventions and musical sequences (well chosen, composed and performed) make the whole plot seem acceptable. The two mermaids in the film start their journey together in the world of the humans, and their return to the sea is inevitable even if their two destinies at some point will split due to contact with humans. Those viewers who have the patience or the pleasure of watching this bizarre film to the end, will eventually enjoy an interesting morale.