Leave No Traces review: A laboured Polish language Oscar hopeful
True crime has enjoyed a wave of popularity in the streaming age, inviting viewers to piece together what happened as the clues come in. While Leave No Traces doesn’t have quite the same mystery, it does show how impactful cinema can be derived from real events.
Set in 1983, Poland’s submission for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar tells the story of Grzegorz Przemyk (Mateusz Górski), a student who is arrested by police after refusing to bow to intimidation, and is beaten by officers at the station. The film’s title partly alludes to their superior’s instruction to kick him in the stomach to avoid bruises. When Grzegorz dies of his injuries, the only witness – his friend Jurek (Tomasz Ziętek) – is targeted by the Communist regime in a detailed and ruthless attempt to keep him from testifying.
The events unfold as a mixture of documentary style drama and crime procedural that leaves no stone unturned. The drained colour palette and 16mm footage give a fly-on-the-wall feeling to every scene, with the camera peeking behind curtains and through car windows as deals are made and plans are hatched. It’s not as elegant as the average Netflix binge fest, and the dour subject matter can be a slog when stretched out over three hours, piling on detail that isn’t always user friendly.
However, for those who like a narrative challenge, there’s plenty to chew on. Ziętek is gripping to watch, as Jurek struggles to hold on to his principles when all around him are urging him to do what is right for The State. The most interesting scenes emotionally come between him and his father (Jacek Braciak), whose patriotism is as odds with his paternal concern.
Leave No Traces is an earnest attempt to bring to the world a harrowing chapter in the country’s history, and a warning as to the dangers of unchecked power.
Leave No Traces is in cinemas from 10th June