Are Documentaries The New Foreign Films?
Following the dissapointingly small release of Polish gem Yuma, we take a look at how the reputation of foreign language films has changed over the past few years.
Its a common complaint that a certain film has been ignored, either by critics or the general public. I think its safe to safe to say that the most ignored film of 2012 and perhaps the decade so far is Yuma. Dont be surprised if you havent heard of it in a summer dominated by superheroes and uncreative sci-fi this gripping Polish gangster story, named after the act of stealing goods from German shops for Polish consumption, slipped under the radar of just about everyone. Yuma tells the story of Zyga (Ziggy to his friends) and his rise from petty thief to full blown gangster in post-communism Poland. Its an odd blend of goofy humour, haunting violence and all out tragedy that works brilliantly. The opening, involving soldiers with devil tattoos, sheltering fleeing Germans and regretfully double crossing a prostitute remains in your mind as Ziggy and his dimwitted friends start to clumsily work for his Aunts smuggling racket; it may be all humour now (the fledgling gangsters driving down their high street, Ice Ice Baby blaring out, is one of the film's standout scenes), but the film creates a sense of foreboding that makes the its later dark turn all the more tragic. Theres excellent use of focus and sound throughout, slowly pushing us closer to Zygas psyche and feeling the danger hes in, on top of highlighting the cold beauty of the Polish land. 
The film works best when looking at the cultural effects of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The gang start off listening to rock n roll and watching classic westerns in a decaying cinema (obviously, 3:10 to Yuma makes an appearance), but as Western culture invades, theres fifty years of development to catch up on. At first, visiting Frankfurt (whose twin city happens to be Yuma, Arizona), Ziggy and company are astounded by this new world; they've only ever seen the rare, overpriced set of Adidas trainers at the towns tiny market and now everythings there literally for the taking. Their initial shoplifting skills need some work, but they delight people with the new found treasures they smuggle across the German border. But over time, their efforts are forced to grow as everybody begins to sell their knock-off goods; the identity of the town and of Poland itself has been swamped by the west. Its an absolute gem and yet it has barely had a cinematic release outside of Poland. The UK has been the only country lucky enough to receive it, but it was incredibly hard to find; Cineworld had only one week's worth of showings in some of its larger multiplexes and that was it. The advertising was minimal; while cinema goers have been treated to three adverts for The Sweeny before each film for the past few weeks, there was no pre-release mention of Yuma. And the trailer that does exist online didn't help, committing the carnal sin of foreign film trailers and having subtitles. Any self respecting foreign language film tries to make itself appear English; think back to any European hit and I can guarantee the trailer hid its non-English speaking roots. How did this happen? Why was no attempt made to sell Yuma? Well the title gives away the answer, but click Next to find out exactly why.