In the heart of the tranquil Polish countryside sits a quiet summer camp that serves to be the annual retreat for a multicultural group of university students who gather to study Linguistics and enjoy the peace of being out of the city. At the core of the retreat are two men – Jarosław Kruszyński (Piotr Garlicki), a young man who has just received his Masters of Arts degree and is relishing in his newfound passion of educating the younger generation, and Jakub Szelestowski (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz), a much older academic that does not share the same passion as his younger colleague. The two men seem to have a very strained relationship – Jakub is naturally a mentor to Jaroslaw, who looks up to the older man as a pillar of wisdom and guidance in this new and intimidating world of academia. However, the young man’s idealistic, hopeful view clashes directly with his mentor’s more cynical and manipulative output, and over the course of their retreat, they consistently engage in deep conversations that range across a variety of subject, from language to philosophy to sex. With the impending arrival of an influential academic to serve as overseer over the closing ceremony, the two men are under pressure to present themselves in such a way that impresses their superior without betraying their own individual desires for the truth.

Camouflage (Polish: Barwy ochronne) is a terrific film. It may not be widely known outside of its native country of Poland, but it serves to be a tremendous example of the great Polish neo-realist Krzysztof Zanussi, who wrote and directed this quaint comedy-drama that is both very serious in how it approaches deeper themes, and delightfully funny in how it approaches the trials and tribulations of the academic world. Moreover, because it is important to be transparent, I must admit that this film spoke to me in particular as one of my professional interests is Linguistics, and thus despite this film being tremendous on its own terms, it resonated even more with me as someone who has had very similar experiences. This is not a particularly innovative film, nor is it traditionally riveting – it seems to have a great deal of the upbeat realism of the films of Éric Rohmer and other people who seek to represent life and find its beauty in the expression of low-key, almost banal stories. Its a funny, insightful and tremendously fascinating exploration of academia, of holding onto youth, and pursuing one’s own desires even through various obstacles that get in our way and prevent us from completing our own metaphysical journeys, especially when these impinging on our growth are those who are seemingly closest to us.

The film is built upon the relationship between the two central characters, and thus so much of Camouflage depends on the performances of the actors playing the roles. Both Piotr Garlicki and Zbigniew Zapasiewicz are exceptional and give tremendous portrayals of two men who might otherwise not be particularly unique or likeable, but through Zanussi’s engaging characterization, they become truly compelling. Garlicki plays the youthful Jarosław with such conviction, depicting him as a man guided by his morals, but a victim to his desires. He is struggling to realize that he is no longer a student, and needs to start adopting a more authoritative persona, as not to be mistaken for something he is not. This is demonstrated through his flirtatious relationship with one of his students, who he discovers, later on, has started a very carnal relationship with another student, with her flirtations with him being simply her attempts to win favour. Its a great performance from an actor who has the difficult task of playing a man who has a youthful mentality in a more mature position. Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, one of the most talented Polish character actors of his generation, steals every scene he is in as the dastardly Jakub, a malicious, manipulative older academic who has grown disillusioned with the world and is now proudly engaging in games of immorality to get his own way, intimidating his students to dominate them and prove who truly is in charge, and who should be obeyed.

The dynamic between the two men at the core of Camouflage is tremendous and speaks to the central theme of duality that governs most of the film. It is a film that explores opposites interacting, not only in terms of the palpable but also in more metaphysical concepts. When looking at the relationship between Jarosław and Jakub, the first impression is that the former is a young man just entering into academia, and seeking the guidance of the weathered veteran with experience. It’s almost a traditional coming-of-age story, but from an academic perspective: the journey from innocence to experience is a central theme in Camouflage, and Zanussi portrays their relationship less of the cliched naive young individual and the wise, helpful older mentor. He subverts expectations and positions Jarosław as a man who may not be necessarily experienced, but still has a strong morality that is normally only gained with time, and Jakub a malignant, capricious charlatan who sees himself as the camp’s Caligula, who gets his way through his position of power. This is another level of opposition that serves as the central tension of the film – it isn’t only a matter of a younger/older dynamic, but also a warped version of the master/servant relationship, but one where the subordinate sees the corruption of his superior, and rebels against it. By the end of the film, the two main characters, who have spent the entirety of the film in search of some authority, engage in a fight that is the very definition of childish – running through open fields and rolling down hills, we aren’t even sure if they’re joking or really on the verge of killing the other – its beautiful, melancholic and really funny, which is perhaps the best description for this film as a whole, which is, above everything else, just a truly cathartic experience.

At the centre of this film is the idea of perspective. The two main characters have wildly different ways of looking at life and its various challenges, and it shows in how they interact with each other and everyone else. Zanussi opts for a much more simple way of executing the story, creating situations where can tell a compelling tale without any excess or overly assertive methods, which makes it all the more effective. His work is profoundly human, and this film is concerned not only with the differences in the characters actions but also in how they look at the world around them. There is nothing traditionally cinematic about this film – it doesn’t have a conventional story with the same structure, but rather serves to be a snapshot of life as it is, a straightforward, unfettered glimpse of everyday existence. This makes for most poignant drama and outrageous comedy. There is an underlying gentleness flowing throughout this film, with Zanussi’s execution of these small but intricate concepts making for captivating viewing. What Camouflage does exceptionally well is it doesn’t give us too much context to the backgrounds of these characters, restricting it to what we see and hear throughout the film. This allows the film to focus on the story at hand, which is beautifully complex on its own, despite being very simple – it isn’t the most energetic of films, but that doesn’t matter when we consider how insightful and meaningful it actually is.

Camouflage is a terrific film – it isn’t very well-known, but I hope that can change because this film is just a traditionally small, intimate comedy that is mostly about life – don’t let the oddly-specific subject matter fool you, this is not a film about Linguistics. In fact, Zanussi very smartly uses this very restrictive academic subject to secretly comment on broader themes – everything in life is about communication, which is a pivotal concept in this film, especially because so much of it revolves around characters trying to convey certain messages. This is a tremendous little film, and a great example of quaint but memorable filmmaking that is as simple as it comes, but still deeply convincing and undeniably memorable. Whether it be in the exceptional performances, the astonishingly well-written screenplay (this film may be verbose at times, but it is certainly for a purpose). Its a fantastic film about humanity, condensing some broad themes into a very simple piece of narrative filmmaking that may not break any particular boundaries of filmmaking, but still remains a biting, often extremely funny piece of social commentary and a wonderful example of less being more – when confronted with the option of making something sweeping, filling it with intrigue, mystery, grand romances and dastardly villains, Zanussi opted for something far more sedate, but nonetheless compelling. This is a film that should be sought out, because, despite its sometimes unexciting concepts, the film has resonance and has a lot of heart that makes it so undeniably compelling.