The Border DVD Review

The Border – Complete Season One (Arrow Films FCD1313D1/2)

Those with strong nerves and an interest in seeing what television has to offer beyond costume dramas and competitive cookery shows will want to check out the newly released DVD of the first season of ‘The Border’. This Polish Noir, recently previewed on Channel 4, takes on the murky world of people smuggling and the murderous gangsters who run them from their Ukraine homeland to neighbouring Poland.

Centring on the lives of an attachment of leather-faced, weather beaten Border guards, our story takes in assassination by bombing, child smuggling and abandonment, internal wrangling, blame gaming, psychological torture, sexism, racism and misogyny, to the point where the viewer might begin to question their own motives for watching it.

Few other police dramas will prepare you for the sheer onslaught of a regular day’s work for the Border Police. In between sleeplessness, revenge threats, draughts of home-made vodka and bear attacks, the viewer may wonder if any of our crew are likely to survive beyond their 30th birthdays. From their daily briefing in a miserable, garishly lit office, to drives into the thick, overgrown woodlands, teeming with rain and whipped by wind, each day leads to another cold, damp watch-and-wait for another team of smugglers with their pathetic charges, tramping through the woods to what they hope will be a better life.

The spectacular and highly suspicious death by bombing of a group of people on a weekend in the country has just one survivor: Border Guard Captain Wiktor Rebrow (Leszek Lichota), out to take a ‘phone call. Little is left of the victims to make a formal identification, and presumed to be among the dead is his lover, Ewa Witynska (Julia Pogrebinska). A torturous investigation follows, headed up by Procurator Iga Dobosz (Aleksandra Poplawska), a successful candidate for Bitch of the Year, who dogs Rebrow at every turn, and is on his case to the point of obsession.

Leszek Lichota’s performance as Rebrow is one of bitter resignation and restrained grief, throughout. Pitched against Aleksandra Poplawska’s bad penny, her gimlet-eyed presence creates an atmosphere between the two, more stifling than the claustrophobia that pervades every home, every building, even the impenetrable woods.

Rebrow’s rough professional conduct and list of dubious acquaintances marks him out as prime suspect in the bombing, also putting him top of a list of those suspected of corruption, dealing with the very people traffickers the Guard are meant to be eradicating. Saw mill owner Kalita (Mariusz Saniternk) is just one of a cast of doubtful characters, his apparently commonplace business no doubt hiding more than just under the counter sales.

There’s a human drama at work here, in amongst the emotionless posturing of Guards and suspects alike, and who can fail to be moved by the plight of children, pushed from pillar to post and then abandoned to their fate in the freezing woods? It’s the female Guards who show more sympathy, and indeed their true mettle in these scenes, and they are also the ones who, although tough characters, get the rough end of the stick for their efforts.

The appearance of a tramp/shaman adds another dimension to the narrative, despite his inability to speak. The forest, which is his home, is littered with his makeshift shelters and tunnelled with his hidey-holes. He is as fleeting and as mysterious as the wolf which makes an appearance (Real? In dreams?) at your door.

Although rooted in a harsh modern reality, and dealing with a highly topical subject, The Border has shadows of mysticism just out of eye line, creeping in between the toxic macho atmosphere. The soundtrack veers between ethereal and punchy, the music, all deep bass mystery. If it’s outside your comfort zone, that’s too bad, but if you’re looking for more than just the standard shoot ‘em up, you’re in luck

Scenester

24/8/16

Images kindly provided by Noble PR and used with permission

Release date 5th September

YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkzUZXS1FYc&feature=youtu.be
Embed code: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OkzUZXS1FYc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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