#szuler

Dawid Kubiak & Szuler, CSIO4* Warsaw 2021

PSH films released 30 years ago this year:

Szuler (1992), dir. Adek Drabiński — as Martin

My New Gun (1992), dir. Stacy Cochran — as Chris

Leap of Faith (1992), dir. Richard Pearce — as Matt

This week’s Monday Philm is Szuler (1992, or maybe 1994, but possibly 1991), a Polish film featuring PSH (credited as “Phil Hoffman”) as Martin the coachman.

I finally found a decent copy of Szuler without that terrible monotone translation dub that makes it impossible to hear the actors speaking English, so this was kind of like my first time watching it! Understanding the language made it much easier to actually watch instead of just skimming as I’d done previously. Poland, 1750s, nobility and gambling and orgies and the Plague and betrayal, I think? The plot is still a bit convoluted and most of the aspects are second-rate — the script, much of the acting, the editing and sound — but I admit it does create a cool atmosphere at times, they set up some neat shots.

How PSH ended up in this Polish film is somewhat of a mystery — he was 23, 24 when it was filmed, and while sources vary about the specific release date, it’s definitely one of his first screen appearances (and the most substantive of these first half dozen or so). You can tell he’s new at this — one of the reasons I’m watching his work in chronological order this time is to see how he grew and improved throughout his career, which means finding some areas that need improvement. He’s already pretty successful at appearing natural in front of a camera, but there are moments where he’s a bit self-conscious about it (and even a few split seconds where he accidentally glances right at the camera in a way he very rarely does later on, lol). The script isn’t strong and the sound/ADR is off sometimes, which both make his (and the rest of the cast’s) delivery a bit forced, unnatural at times.

As I said this was sort of my first time *really* watching Szuler and hearing Phil’s lines, and Martin had a larger role as a side character than I previously realized. Terribly loyal to his masters, partly because he has no one else in the world — “Where would I have gone?”  Some time passes during the film — he starts as a giddy, lustful, Joker-laughing stable boy before showing himself to be/becoming a pretty sensitive, lonely, frightened young man. With just a few minutes of screen time, I think he does a phenomenal job showing that development and displaying such depth for a relatively minor character. He looks like such a prince, too, so pretty and handsome — and he’s doing the typical-PSH-Golden-Retriever-mouth-hanging-open thing for half the movie, lol.

I’m glad I watched this in its entirety this time, not just to hear the English but because there were a few Martin scenes I didn’t catch when I skimmed through before. The scenes of him standing in the rain, waking Moritz (his voice is lowkey Capote-esque in those lines?!), carrying the children. They’re simple moments, not very long, but seeing new footage or picking up on shots I didn’t notice before is always such a wonderful treat when I think I’ve already seen everything there is to see.

In general: As a film? Not the best. As a time capsule of young PSH at work? Pretty much the best. I’m biased, both as a viewer in 2022 who knows this kid will go on to have an acclaimed acting career and as an unabashed fan who thinks he’s the greatest to ever do it, but I really do feel a surprising dedication to what could otherwise be a bit part. I wouldn’t be shocked if Phil had as many notes and ideas and background for Martin as he developed for any of his later, larger roles.