Ecstasy of St. Agnes

Ecstasy of St. Agnes - review

Two women, appearing to be identical twins slowly enter a blank white space. One of them speaks: Everything is repeated. Everything is repetitive. This sets the scene for the poetic journey that is The Ecstasy of St Agnes.

Referencing the virgin martyr, Agnes of Rome, Polish film-maker Slawomir Milewski gives
a contemporary twist to the concept of ecstasy. Through the repetition of simple acts and phrases, Milewski explores the complexities of human emotions – love, desire, loneliness. Attuned to nuances and quirky juxtapositions that others might overlook, he observes festival revelers gyrating to an unheard rhythm and follows a sartorially elegant figure cavorting in a field.

So much more complex than a cut and paste of Milewski’s surrealist images, the film develops into a conflation of footage displaying a myriad of contemporary cultural ecstasies. Predominantly black and white, it captures the feel of vintage classic films, but is then spliced with a flash of color. Vertical figures are tipped on their sides. A cube of thrusting limbs emerges from a cloudy sky. Milewski breaks all the rules with the ease of a seasoned storyteller adept
at keeping his audience guessing.

Deftly weaving in the dreamlike audio, Milewski’s subtle humor permeates through to the final scene.

JK Russ
Off the Strip New Genres Festival Co-ordinator
Las Vegas, Nevada

Ecstasy of St. Agnes
experimental short movie, 20' 2010; Slawomir Milewski