I didn't make head nor tail of this Polish short film, but I liked it. 'Smoke (2007)' exists in its own little world, a private nightmare of a drug-induced haziness, the stench of opium hanging thickly in the air. The film's low budget is occasionally apparent – you can usually pick it from smoothness of the camera movement – but this is nevertheless an excellently constructed film, especially in its use of vivid, evocative colour, and a disconcerting soundtrack. Director Grzegorz Cisiecki samples the work of masters: there's the astute blending of dream and memory, reminiscent of Maya Deren or David Lynch; the haunting sexual ceremony of Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut (1999)'; the fragmented and often disturbing imagery of 'Un Chien Andalou (1929).' Shades of Caligula rear their head in several sequences, in which decadent men and women gather around a grotesque meal, as though in the prelude to a perverse sexual event. The surreal images appear to revolve around a central figure, a young man silently brooding in a dark room. A woman near the window, slowly undressing, goes unnoticed. Why such a vast emotional distance between these two people? Is it jealousy? Disloyalty? Is the young man simply imagining these perverse acts of sexual betrayal, or do his suspicions have grounding?

A young man sits in an apartment, listening to a cassette and, it appears, remembering recent events. This includes a beautiful young woman who arrived at his apartment in a puff of smoke. As depicted, she was driven there in a car by a plump, sinister looking gentleman. In order to find his lady again, the young man travels to a smoky nightclub, where there are other lovely ladies on display. Some are crying jewels, others are taking photographs, with a camera dipped in blood. The couple meets again, and spends a brief time in the grass, with arms linked. But, at the end, the young man sits alone once more. What has occurred? Was it a dream or was it real? Are our lives as fleeting as wisps of smoke? I can't pretend that I understand this visually stunning short in its entirety but it was quite an interesting watch. Although it is a mere eight minutes long, its understated quality makes it a prime candidate for discussion. Just what has one viewed and what is its meaning? Most likely everyone will have a different answer! The cast is most handsome and the direction is well conceived and edited. Want to have a different kind of friendly get-together? Show this film on You Tube to your guests and then wait for the words to flow!

Keeps in mind while reading this, i have never seen a short film before, so maybe some thing I found interesting might not suppose to be and maybe some flaws I saw weren't flaws at all.This is a very artsy film. The director had allot of great ideas, and his cast gave it there complete effort. The cast performed great, especially the lead man.The film didn't have any conversation in it, and used sound effects and music to demonstrate mood and the atmosphere of the scene. The film succeeds at pulling the audience in by doing that. Much the same way M. Night Shyamalan does it in "The Sixth Sense" My only complaint about the film, was that there is no identifiable plot. Is that what short films are supposed to be like, i don't know, but I had a hard time figuring out what was going on. i thought maybe the lead was upset and having flashbacks of a happier time, but even in these so called flashbacks he seems upset. My theory is the whole thing is one big day dream, and at the end where there is a girl standing behind him, that is back to real life. I guess we will never know, it's up to the director to interpret what the film should be about.Artisitically wonderful, and full of great performances.

At the request of Grzegorz Cisiecki, the director of this piece, I watched Smoke and I found myself in for a pleasant surprise. Billed as a story of 'a person who becomes the captive of a surrealistic madness,' what Smoke lacks in narrative structure, it makes up for with haunting imagery and superb use of sound that serves to effectively chart the progress of its subject, protagonist or what have you as he falls into the eerie, dreamlike sleep that reaches its loud peak with a sudden cut to the credits by the end of its short, seven minute run.Lacking in any sort of dialog, the film employs the use of professional actors who have the right idea as to how to convey themselves in a way that makes sense in a film that lacks logic. A surrealistic piece of art, Smoke contains threads reminiscent of the style of such acclaimed talents as Lynch and Fellini (a definite nod to its great atmosphere) while retaining a sense of confidence necessary to tackle something with this level of ambition.It is clear that Cisiecki is a non-professional. His work here though, is promising, and an interesting experiment even if the technical aspects outshine any sort of plot. The use of imagery and music is fine, but it is the editing and cinematography that is the film's true mark—this is where Cisiecki is spot-on. The strength of the director's vision is apparent in the great quality of the production. While it can be said that many filmmakers who specialise in imagery and sound are typically lacking in the storytelling area, I think that it is safe to say that Cisiecki can create something more than interesting with a good writer at his side, and that is something I definitely look forward to.