![]() When Leon (Artur Steranko) stands over his grandmother's grave and tells her that he's "seeing a woman," the dead matriarch is unable to offer her approval. And that's for the best. Indeed, Leon's artful statement cleverly elides the facts of his situation. As omniscient viewers, we're privileged enough to know that he routinely breaks into the home of his neighbor Anna (Kinga Preis), mixes Ambien into her sugar bowl, and watches her as she sleeps. He's seeing the woman, not touching her, and we're expected to give him points for restraint when he pulls back his hand from caressing her exposed breast. Needless to say, Jerzy Skolimowski's first film in 17 years is a uniquely unpleasant experience, set in a grim, muddy Polish burg and tethered to the activity of a gross, heavy-breathing ex-con. Advertised as a dark comedy—and it's certainly poorly lit—Four Nights with Anna is one part funny ha-ha to 99 parts funny-strange. Akiva Gottlieb |