Filmmaker Matt Sarnecki doesn’t say a word about how difficult it must have been to get the material for his 90-minute film “Deadly Research.” How he doesn’t say a word himself, but lets the pictures speak and the people this story is about.
It is the story about the murder of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancé Martina Kušnírová. About an oligarch system in Slovakia that allows influential people to put themselves above the law. A Slovakian court has acquitted businessman Marián Kočner of having ordered the murder. Matt Sarnecki, who caused a stir five years ago with his film “Killing Pavel” about the murder of the journalist Pavel Sheremet in Kyiv, presents evidence and circumstantial evidence that cast doubt on the correctness of this verdict.
Corrupt judges, compliant police officers, politicians who were little more than puppets for oligarchs – Sarnecki summarizes what the official investigations have revealed over the years. There were always investigations that took place against the will of parts of their own institutions – the police authorities, the public prosecutor’s office, the ministries. One has to assume that people with influence still have no interest in the existence of this film.
The camera is rolling even when the people are silent. Because their faces speak
Nevertheless, Matt Sarnecki was able to collect many videos from investigation files, he has material available from the crucial press conferences and was able to film himself during crucial arrests or re-enactments of the crime. And he was able to bring many people in front of the camera: the parents of the dead, friends and colleagues, but also people who play a less than beneficial role in this case. Marián Kočner’s defender, for example.
“Deadly Research” is a quiet film. It begins silently, with images of a demonstration against state power. Then you see a couple on a bench, they too are silent for a while before they start talking, first Jozef Kuciak, the father of the murdered man, then his wife Jana. They are followed by Zlata Kušnírová, Martina’s mother.
Matt Sarnecki builds his film argument by argument. He often lets the camera roll for another two or three seconds, even if the people before that have nothing more to say. Their looks, their gestures then tell of what they cannot or do not want to put into words. Sadness and anger find an outlet, feelings of guilt are discussed. Others try to ridicule things. However, most of those involved try to be as sober as possible. But who can stay sober and composed when everything boils up again and again?
In the end things are open in front of you. And the pleasant soberness of the presentation turns into disillusionment. Because the consequences of this case are so small.
Deadly investigations – The murder of Ján KuciakArte, August 23, 11:05 p.m.