I'm a Killer (2016)
6/10
Is it possible to sympathize with the murderer?
7 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A film based on real events entitled "Jestem Morderca" by Maciej Pieprzyc takes place in the 1970s. It can be safely said that it is full of communist props, for which people responsible for design can definitely be praised. Throughout the screening, you can feel the atmosphere of those times, for example through the ever-rising, thick clouds of cigarette smoke.

The plot tells about an investigation modeled on the so-called a vampire from Zaglebia who murdered 14 women and tried to kill 6. Here you can accuse the director of not using the real name of the murderer - Zdzislaw Marchwicki. If the story is based on facts, then such an important detail as the name of the main antagonist should be true. However, this is not something that detracts from the plot of the film.

The film directed by Pieprzyc shows the story of a serial killer, but does not arouse hatred or disgust towards the character played by Arkadiusz Jakubiak. No circumstantial evidence confirms his guilt, which is why, when he is visiting his family and when his children are interrogated in the courtroom, the viewer sympathizes with him more than accuses him. It is shown in a more human way. It's hard to believe that a man who acts like this could commit so many horrible crimes.

As for the main character, it is the policeman who leads the case - Jasinski, who undergoes a transformation throughout the film. At the very beginning, it is a slightly lost man who somehow found himself in that place. From a good husband and father, he becomes responsible for finding a serial killer, which becomes his target at all costs.

At first, his relationship with the accused seems good, it can even be said that Wieslaw Kalicki trusts him only. The main character has mixed feelings about the defendant's guilt throughout the film. We see how he beats his thoughts. Is the man he captures the one he is really looking for? Would that be the behavior of a serial killer? However, these are questions that will never be answered.

In the film, the ending of the film may seem to be a big surprise, which unfortunately does not leave an open gate for the viewers' imagination and presents everything on a tray, thanks to the epilogue that we see right after the execution on the alleged "Vampire". The execution of the convict itself is a fairly strong scene, the atmosphere of which is certainly added by the fact that no music was used or no dialogues were introduced to this scene, only the sounds of the surroundings - sloping boards and the whir of the engine. These elements definitely build the tension in this scene, as well as the attitude of the convict who surrenders to what awaits him without saying a word.
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