If the sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons, the sins of the brothers fall hardest on each other. But exactly whose father, son or brother is Pawel?

His is the "Case Unknown" that intrigues -- and comes to obsess -- a young psychiatrist in the deftly crafted new dramatic thriller by Polish director Feliks Falk.

At its outset, raging floodwaters force a frantic evacuation of the mental institution where new hire Dr. Konstanty (Borys Szyc) works. In the process, his attention is snagged by the haunted look of a speechless amnesia victim named Pawel (Grzegorz Wolf), whose case records are subsequently nowhere to be found. Lost in the confusion or deliberately removed?

'Case Unknown'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Starring: Borys Szyc and Grzegorz Wolf.

Rating: R in nature for adult themes and subtitles.

Nobody knows, cares or wants to find out except Konstanty, who violates the rules by virtually kidnapping Pawel and taking him home for "private treatment" -- an unorthodox course of action that alienates his hospital superiors as well as his wife Renata (Magdalena Walach).

We should all have such a wife: Renata is beautiful, sexy, supportive, a talented musician and a devoted mother to their young daughter. But "supportive" has its limits, and she's fearful about living with her husband's "mental case" on a 24/7 basis. The more Konstanty's discovery efforts become a full-time job, the more neglectful he becomes -- and the less convinced she is by his reassurances that Pawel isn't dangerous. The neighbors are increasingly agitated, too. 'Twas ever thus, in Pittsburgh or Poland: Their street wasn't zoned for a halfway house.

Mystery thickens with the evident lies and hostility of a medical bureaucrat by the sly name of Ambrosiak (Krzysztof Stroinski). But his obstructionism slowly springs a leak as mute Pawel slowly begins to speak.

Co-written by Falk with the great Agnieska Holland, "Case Unknown" is a model of intelligent storytelling and fine acting. Konstanty is no cardboard saint. (He's interested in Pawel out of compassion but also as a much-needed subject for his research dissertation). Szyc's portrayal of the doctor is a perfect mix of gentle empathy and dogged determination, driving Pawel around town in search of people or places he might recognize, with sardonic commentary ("This is Solidarity Square -- used to be Red").

Gorgeous Walach, for her part, is a winsomely sympathetic hybrid of the young Mia Farrow and Shirley MacLaine. But most moving is Wolf's Pawel, with his tragic, downcast eyes -- "a ghost in the house," whose identity struggles to emerge from catatonia.

Truffaut's "The Wild Child" comes to mind here, and a famous Milos Forman film is humorously referenced: "Take the cuckoo back to the cuckoo's nest" says a note attached to the brick that sails through Konstanty's window.

Consumer warning: The subtitles accompanying the Polish language dialogue are particularly lame and full of mistakes. But that's a minor problem.

More major is the realistic ambiguity of our two unheroic heroes. You'd expect that in a sophisticated Polish film, just as you'd expect an elusive (and in this case somewhat baffling) political connection. Who had Pawel committed, and why?

But that, finally, is a less important question than Konstanty's: "If I don't help him, who will?"

Post-Gazette film critic emeritus Barry Paris can be reached at parispg48@aol.com.

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