Unrequited love, according to Jerzy Skolimowki. By STEVE GARDEN.

JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI kicked off his directorial career in the mid-60s with a run of very impressive films, notably Identification Marks, None (1964), Walkover (1965) and Barrier (1966). His international productions include Le Depart (1967), Deep End (1971), The Shout (1978) and his best-known film, Moonlighting (1982). Following the disastrous Ferdydurke (1991), Skolimowski packed up his directorial chair to focus on painting and poetry, but after a spot of acting in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, he felt encouraged to return to filmmaking. Unfurling the story of one man’s eccentric, obsessional love for his neighbour – and the voyeuristic courtship that follows – Four Nights With Anna (Cztery Noce z Anna) is the result.

One might herald Anna as a triumphant return-to-form if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s strongly reminiscent of other films. The visual style recalls Bela Tarr’s Krasznahorkai trilogy; Michael Haneke’s The Castle (with which it shares darkly comic overtones) and Time of the Wolf (particularly the effective use of natural lighting); and the sodden landscapes of Andrei Tarkovsky. The story parallels Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Short Film About Love; there are hints of Roman Polanski and the Czech New Wave; and the emotionally withdrawn awkwardness of the central character is strikingly similar to Pharaon de Winter in Bruno Dumont’s Humanity, so much so that it surely can’t be a coincidence.

Skolimowski may be no Tarr, Haneke or Dumont, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. While more conventional than its possible influences, Four Nights With Anna is nevertheless an assured and engaging piece of work. There is a subtle black wit running throughout that hints at the possibility that the cinematic references could in fact reflect a taste for the dry piss-take on Skowlimowski’s part, but with an equal openness to self-depreciation. In any event, the verve of the filmmaking and attractive atmospheric appeal of the visual storytelling (refreshingly light on dialogue) make Four Nights With Anna the most teasingly intriguing of the European films in this festival.