REVIEWS

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Screenplay Superior Being: Smokeless Fire

Director: Jaroslaw Gogolin

The film script of "Superior Being: Smokeless Fire" features the writer’s thorough study and interest in the worlds of geopolitics and mythology. The screenplay has been articulated with attention to details that define the landscape of the dry landscape of Afghanistan, while describing the unnatural movements of winds labelled as "dust devils". This initial setup has the potential to grab the viewer’s attention by creating curiosity, if carefully designed through CGI or VFX effects.

The story then moves on to introduce the characters and intra-settings of the Polish military base. We get introduced to the main Polish base’s military officials, and along comes the on-call psychologist, Ewa. Ewa is shown as having a very rebellious feminist side and is described as a smart, lean, yet fit-built woman with a high rank in the military. Her presence surprised the all-male base population, as they expected a male psychologist. She was sent to Afghanistan to treat a soldier who became mentally unstable without any specific reason. Hence, she goes to the distant base, where mysteries unfold around the base.

The engaging part of this screenplay is that it continuously breaks away from the characters conversation to show the luring danger moving closer and closer. These developing circumstances will continuously keep the viewer connected to the words of the mentally ill soldier who kept on blabbering about something "coming" for them. This danger, with no figure of its own, will be discussed thoroughly in the film while discussing its mythical significance or perhaps legends. The fear will be shown to be so real that non-believers like Mohamed (an Afghan) respect this fear and follow the protocol of safety as advised by this villager. The fear has been instilled by the uselessness of bullets on the unrevealed figures; against whom weapons fail and even the elements of nature fear. The title too dictates the characteristics of these “dust devils” or “Jinn” is a poetic manner as it tries to state the power of these dark figures. The indication of “smokeless fire” is depicted through the evidence-less deaths of many people without any trace.

As the story progresses into a thrilling, adventurous, and horror one, it bends the objective truths of reality. It is so because the writer, Jaroslaw Gogolin, represents the Taliban as a victim of the existing deformed danger of "Jinn’s". On the same political note, Gogolin creates three population segments: the Afghan villagers, the Taliban, and the Polish military. But somehow, the presence of a woman is what makes the story interesting, as it is she who has been given the power of both arms and understanding. Furthermore, to take her character up a notch, a peculiarity was added, i.e., her strange eating habits.

The scenes have been described with multiple camera shots, which can be described as apt ones, to make the film’s cinematography more interesting. The film begins with superimposed shots of Afghan landscapes, which further evolve into more concentrated shots. For example, arial shorts for when the vehicles are moving and point-of-view shots when there is a mystery or horror situation The ideation is adept given such a layered screenplay.

As the screenplay delivered is so well-put together, if the film is well-featured, it has the potential to stand out in the independent film industry.

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Gangotri Das, a fashion management student and a film enthusiast who enjoys analysing motion pictures in order to contribute ideas to the world of films. She has been writing since 2018 as she was inspired by her study of literature, in which she pursued her bachelor's.