Review: The Crossroads
Crisis of meaning
by Evgenija Arsova
A luxurious house that is equipped with everything to meet one’s desires, and yet never really felt like home. Well-dressed people with overflowing bank accounts who have lived together for so long, and yet have never been a family. Their game of pretending comes to an end when fate has retired doctor Tadeusz (Jan Englert) take a turn at the crossroads right in front of his residence. A fatal accident involving his vehicle and a motorbike robs a twenty-four-year-old medical student of his life. Painting out the meaning and moral crisis of the modern man which infects many different areas of a person’s life, The Crossroads holds a mirror in front of society, compelling it to take a long look.
After a life of prominence in his career as a doctor, eighty-two-year-old Tadeusz lives with his wife in their suburban home. Life seems perfect in their household until the crash: the unbearable guilt of being responsible for a life lost starts to eat him alive. He becomes vulnerable enough to be tempted to take justice into his own hands. This unfolding of events opens a Pandora’s box of family secrets as his beloved granddaughter (Martyna Byczkowska) is about to get married. The final trial of the senior spouses’ relationship begins, as previous acts of unfaithfulness take the spotlight. Through a domino effect, even their son’s (Michak Czernecki) and his daughter’s relationships will be tested simultaneously.
Jan Englert delivers a subtle yet powerful performance. His ability to communicate without having to say much contributes to an emotional roller-coaster on the screen, capable of keeping the audience fully engaged. Credit also goes to Michal Czernecki and Anna Romantowska (playing Tadeusz’ wife), whose acting is more dynamic and rich in dialogue, perfectly complementing Englert’s performance.
The scenes are filmed through a series of fixed shots, ensuring this tense family drama unfolds in a smooth and elegant flow. The color palette is made up of a variety of green and gray shades, harmonizing with the weather and architecture of the house. Such a visual sensory spectacle is underlined by a renaissance painting by Botticelli depicting the birth of Venus, the goddess of beauty, fertility and prosperity. Prominently displayed in one of the rooms of the house, the artwork is often gazed at by Tadeusz, an antithesis to everything that he and his immediate family are experiencing in their time of crisis.
Resembling a masquerade ball, where the disguises stay on as long as there is music playing, this is a story of an unmasking when the times of milk and honey come to a halt. Such heavy themes don’t prevent The Crossroads from succeeding in its brave attempt at unpacking the complexity of relationships and the question of morality in the modern age, at the same time marking it out as an undeniably strong directorial debut.