I have never hidden my admiration for documentary films, constantly writing that the genre of the documentary is inherently of interest to me because of its ability to convey reality in a cinematic manner, where the audience can be introduced to a specific real-life story or figure and be able to engage with it. However, despite being relatively comfortable with all aspects of the documentary genre, nothing could have prepared me for All These Sleepless Nights (Polish: Wszystkie nieprzespane noce), one of the most utterly incredible films I have ever seen, an audacious and explosive documentary that challenges the boundaries between fact and fiction in a way that can only be described as extraordinary and emotionally-moving, and convinces me that All These Sleepless Nights is one of the greatest documentary films of the twenty-first century.

All These Sleepless Nights is focused mainly on Krzysztof Baginski, a twentysomething Polish millennial who spends his days going to EDM rave parties and meeting up with girls for sexual encounters that are sometimes void of meaning. After a bitter break-up, he moves in with his best friend, Michał Huszcza, and the two young men do their best to navigate the streets of the ever-changing contemporary Warsaw, a city seemingly in a form of spatial purgatory, remaining firmly in the past, but with modern generations (who increasingly form the heart of the city and the country as a whole) wishing to burst through and move towards a progressive future. Krzysztof and Michał drive the narrative that sees the duo moving through the cityscape, whereby the audience sees a city being rapidly manipulated by a particular youthful mindset, one EDM party at a time.

It is inherently difficult to write about a documentary, because there are some tools that a film reviewer has that they can rely on when talking about a film – performance, progression of narrative and the strengths and weaknesses of the story. As soon as a work of non-fiction, non-narrative filmmaking is the subject of a piece of writing, these tools are rendered redundant, and it becomes slightly more difficult to talk about the film in a way that is as conventional as a narrative feature. However, it is a challenge I embrace entirely, and some of my personal favorite reviews have been on the subject of various documentary films that were as unique and remarkable as any other great film. However, All These Sleepless Nights is an entirely different matter altogether, because it is a film that is almost entirely without a stable narrative or thread of story, rather being a series of moments in the life of a pair of young men and how they thrive and survive in a historically-significant city that has been changed by modernity while still attempting to remain stagnant. All These Sleepless Nights is a difficult film to write about, precisely because it is a difficult film to understand in ways that are articulable and logical. It is a stream-of-consciousness adventure into urban Polish society, where the narrative focus on a pair of individuals shows us a new side of a familiar and important city. The most adequate way to describe All These Sleepless Nights is as an exploration of contemporary Warsaw, but also an exploration of the inner-turmoil of the European millennial demographic, and perhaps even the trials and tribulations of simply being young in a modern world.

As said before, All These Sleepless Nights is a film that blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction. It challenges the nature of reality, and looks at its subjects in a way that is glorified but not sensationalized – it is an authentic portrayal of the lives of Krzysztof and Michał as they go about their lives from day to day, but also shows them in a way that is undeniably cinematic. The combination of innovative editing and truly magnificent cinematography (which I will discuss in detail further on) with the attention the director Michał Marczak paid to showing the lives of the individuals in a manner that is not fictional, but not entirely factual either, makes All These Sleepless Nights a narrative outlier – it is a film that can attest to being equal parts fictional and factual, as well as being neither. It is a spatial and temporal odyssey through a city and a mindset, and a representation of how much a mindset is influenced by the history of the city, and how the city can be manipulated by the mindset of youth. There isn’t any indication of which parts of All These Sleepless Nights were authentic, natural interactions and thoughts, and which parts were somewhat fictionalized and “staged”. I don’t mean to imply that All These Sleepless Nights is in anyway dishonest or anything less than a truthful account of the lives of its subject matter, but rather than what Marczak constructs here is so thoughtful and dream-like, it becomes a confusingly beautiful portrayal of reality.

There is a certain intimacy of reality present in this film, the likes of which I have yet to see. It feels far more real than the archetypal cinéma vérité style of filmmaking, where a director attempts to portray the subject in a way that is honest and without much flair. All These Sleepless Nights goes way beyond this, presenting the audience with the opportunity to not only get intimately close to the lives and day-to-day routines and activities of Krzysztof and Michał, it also allows us to take a glimpse into their minds, particularly through Krzysztof’s voice-over narration, whereby the audience is privy to his inner-thoughts, where his insecurities and anxieties are presented directly to us. It creates a far more sympathetic relationship between the subjects and the audience, and we feel as if we are a part of their journey as well, being with them as they roam the streets of pre-dawn Warsaw, watching as they attend increasingly energetic and unique rave parties throughout the city and how they are influenced by the city around them. Michał Marczak has constructed a film that is so brutally realistic, and the intimacy this film presents the audience with is almost voyeuristic, particularly in the sequences where Krzysztof is given a video camera of his own to record the sexual encounters he has with his girlfriend Eva. The audience is given access to the private lives and inner-thoughts of the subjects, which paints a truly authentic portrait of the experience of being young.

All These Sleepless Nights is, without any hint of hyperbole, one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. I have yet to see a documentary film look this stunning. It is obvious that a documentary film does not necessarily need to rely on a heightened visual aesthetic, because audiences watch the film for the sake of the story and the subject matter, rather than to see innovative filmmaking techniques. As someone who frequently praises the work of Albert and David Maysles and Shirley Clarke for its raw and grainy naturalism, even I was taken aback by Marczak’s relentless dedication to creating a stunningly beautiful visual representation of life. It is cinematography akin to that of great arthouse masterpieces, with the story being told through staggering imagery that presents the central narrative of the lives of these two individuals in an unsettlingly beautiful manner, which further contributes to the juxtaposition of reality and fiction. Not only is All These Sleepless Nights one of the most breathtaking documentary films ever made, and quite simply one of the most astonishingly beautiful films I have ever seen, with the dreamlike photography of this film lingering on the mind of the viewer for a while after watching the film. The editing in this film is also distinctive, with the innovative way this film is edited seeming to be slightly jarring, but eventually settles into representing the events of this film in a mesmerizing and highly memorable way. Marczak clearly abides by Agnès Varda’s belief in the camera being used as a pen, used to write a specific story, using this film to construct a narrative out of the present, rather than relying on the past to tell the story of these characters. Marczak’s deft and effortless movement of the camera, as well as the unorthodox editing, manage to both document and accentuate the recklessness of youth present throughout this film.

The most difficult question when looking at All These Sleepless Nights is quite simple: what is this film about? As said before, it is a stream-of-consciousness odyssey through the lives of a group of young Polish people as they make their way through the city and live their lives. It is, more than anything, a film that looks at the experience of being young. It is a relatable film for anyone who has had to navigate the treacherous waters of early adulthood, having to exist in the awkward position between childhood innocence and adult responsibility, and the recklessness that can come with the combination of the two. The main characters (if we can refer to them as characters) of All These Sleepless Nights hold onto their youth by engaging in behavior that isn’t illegal or depraved, but rather careless and hedonist, with their devil-may-care attitudes being representative of their intention to hold onto their youth for as long as they conceivably can. All These Sleepless Nights is a portrait of the experience of being young, looking at the uncertainty that exists in many millennials, all attempting to find their own place in the world. It becomes clear that All These Sleepless Nights is a highly philosophical film, looking at various concepts through the eyes of its protagonists. There is a philosophy of vice, where sexual activity and happily careless partying takes place of adult responsibility. The people in this film do not engage in these activities because they are young – they engage in them because they are growing older, and they desperately try and hold onto what youth they have left. This is a highly profound and philosophical film, with many meaningful things to convey, which it does through its extraordinary attention to showing the minutiae of the lives of the main characters.

All These Sleepless Nights can be considered a moving photograph of its subjects – both visually, as it presents itself as a series of stunning moments, as well as emotionally, allowing the audience to enter into the lives of this ordinary individuals, giving us unfettered access to their experiences and their own emotional, (meta)physical journeys through a city that takes on an entirely new, wholly unfamiliar appearance in this film. All These Sleepless Nights has simply emotional resonance, presenting a realistic and honest portrayal of life that is easily relatable and positively riveting. It is an extraordinarily naturalistic and beautiful expression of reality, and through the authentic theatricality of the filmmaking process, the boundaries between fact and fiction are gloriously shattered, leaving only a deeply meaningful celebration of life and youth.