PHOTON. Intriguing part sci-fi part documentary from Poland

Armed with patience and coffee, mentally geared towards an intellectual challenge rather than entertainment, especially since Photon’s promotional materials suggest experimental cinema and essentially devoid of a plot, which from a marketing perspective sounds quite risky. Photon deals with the beginnings of life on Earth, assembled from video art pieces, with a handful of actors led by Andrzej Chyra in the role of a scientist-narrator. And although he is convincing, as usual, the strength and intensity of Photon do not lie solely in the acting.

However, it must be admitted that the film is indeed unconventional and requires some getting used to. First and foremost, there is no plot, only seemingly. It’s a three-part popular science pseudo-documentary. It begins with the development of life on Earth from a symbolic point on the plane through the formation of DNA chains to increasingly complex life forms. When the narrator reaches the appearance of humans, the second part begins, dedicated to the present day. Leto discusses the functioning of the brain, focusing on both its extraordinariness and limitations. Towards the end of the film, the director moves from physics and chemistry to futurology, weaving in depressing yet probable visions of the future, where “technology is creeping closer to our heads.” The meaningful compositional bracket for Photon is the point from which everything began and where it may end someday. All three parts are connected by actor inserts providing background to Photon‘s content in the form of an interview with a molecular physicist. His monologues serve as narration complementing the animation.

And it looks quite peculiar. It’s a collage of molecular visualizations, physical and chemical reactions, and pseudo-documentary shots of nature. Similar to the organisms presented in the film, the animation also evolves over time. Naturally, the screening of Photon and its specific form sometimes brings to mind other directors of world cinema who tried new things. Like Stanley Kubrick and his 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is more due to similar themes than the plot itself. Moreover, Leto mentions in the interview that his inspiration from Kubrick’s The Shining was based on wondering how to do it differently than him. The beginning of Photon is black-and-white shapes that tremble restlessly, like a sound synthesizer chart. Over time, the shapes start to resemble abstractions straight from early short films by David Lynch or special effects from Ken Russell’s Altered States. All these shapeshifting forms stimulate the imagination greatly. This is where the greatest strength of Norman Leto’s film lies—it stimulates viewers’ interest and emotions because instead of striving for didacticism, it tries to infect the audience with its passion.

Returning to the director’s earlier statement about filtering out viewers: despite the director’s concerns, it seems unlikely that anyone would leave the cinema during the screening. On the contrary, Photon draws you in like a good crime story, although the plot, instead of a criminal mystery, concerns the origin and development of the world. There is a lot of information, but it is presented in an accessible manner and spiced up with discreet yet sharp humor. I would like to attend lectures as coherent and intriguing as the first twenty minutes of Photon.