[Film] Planet Single (Planeta Singli)

20 May 2017

“Planet Single (Planeta Singli)”---European Union Film Festival

Release Year: 2016

Country: Poland

Director: Mitja Okorn

Cast: Maciej Stuhr, Agnieszka Wiedlocha, Piotr Glowacki

Location I watched: National Gallery Singapore

Story from the programme booklet:

Ania is charming, romantic, though not too self-confident teacher who is looking for her ideal man on internet dating sites. On Valentine’s evening, she meets Tomek who hosts the most popular and controversial TV show in the country. Admiring her innocent romanticism, the showman offers her to become a heroine of his program. She will make dates online and he will reveal true faces of the men flirting in the net and ridicule these naïve women who seek their princes online. Ania’s crazy dating adventures turn out to be an instant hit. However, one day Ania unexpectedly encounters her ideal boyfriend.

Dinner at Tomek's house. Uncler what they are eating

“Planet Single” in this film is a fictional dating application that is similar to “Tinder”. On Valentine Day, the protagonist, Ania made the first date with a man who became acquainted through the Planet Single application, but he never appeared. A popular TV host, Tomek happened to be in the same restaurant where she was waiting for her “boyfriend”. He spotted her and immediately understood her situation. He spoke to her, a total stranger for him, in a conceited and rude manner and she really got angry with him. Their first meeting was the worst. But as they know more about each other, they gradually become attracted… It is the perfect pattern for a romantic comedy. The story does not only concentrate on Ania and Tomek, but many characters also appear and develop their episodes. While I was watching, I wondered how all the episodes would conclude, but they somehow came together at the film’s ending after all. However, the film had so much high spirits that the duration is a little bit too long over 120 minutes. It is a weak point of the film, I think.

Tomek has his own show on TV with puppets he designed. To boost the audience ratings, his boss orders Tomek to reveal the real identity of his puppet heroine, which is actually Ania, in the last episode of the show. I thought the live broadcasting of the last episode would be this film’s climax. For example, Tomek proposes to Ania during the broadcasting and although it is different from the boss’s initial intention, the audience rating gets high. However, such a terrible cliché did not happen. I felt evaded by Tomek at first, but actually it is a reasonable conclusion. Tomek keeps his promise for her never to reveal her identity till the end, taking a risk to sacrifice his career. The real climax comes later in the film and it makes the audience laugh and happy.

This romantic comedy creates laughter from situations and body expressions more than from dialogue. As that works well, the film is sometimes quite funny. One of the most memorable scenes, Tomek desperately asks for help to his friend and business partner, Marcel, shouting his name outside his apartment at midnight. Finally Marcel came out, wearing Japanese Yukata (casual Kimono clothes, sometimes used as nightwear) printed with a Japanese hotel name and disposable slippers…When you stay in a hotel in Japan, you can take the disposable slippers. But please do NOT bring that Yukata back to your home. It belongs to the hotel… Another good point is that Ania has an irresistible charm. It is a lovable film.

This screening was in conjunction with the Polish Food Festival. So before the film starts, there was a reception with Polish refreshments. But when I reached the venue, the food was almost gone. Anyway, in the film, many nice restaurants, cafés and bars appear as a venue where Ania dates with her Internet boyfriends. However, since the situation is always a first meeting, she does not eat almost anything. While we see various eating places, we do not see actual eating scenes. It is a unique concept, but we cannot know what Polish cuisine look like by this film. As a promotion for the Polish Food Festival, I am not sure if this was good or not. (23 June 2017)