Powder and Petrol: A weird, messy, and fascinating time capsule

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much you like watching people shout at each other in a room that looks like a cardboard stage set. If you are into early 20th-century European satire and don’t mind a film that feels like it’s vibrating with nervous energy, you’ll dig it. If you need a plot that actually goes somewhere—or, you know, makes sense—stay far away. This is for the weirdos who dig through old archives to find the bits of film that don't quite fit anywhere else.

The whole thing has this frantic, almost manic energy. It’s like the cast had one espresso too many and decided to film a protest sketch. Voskovec and Werich are doing their usual bit, but here it feels a bit sharper, a bit more desperate.

There is a scene near the middle where a chair is moved for absolutely no reason. It lingers on the back of the chair while the characters are arguing off-screen. It’s so bizarrely specific that I found myself staring at the grain of the wood instead of listening to the dialogue. Maybe that was the point? Probably not.

Bits and pieces

• The lighting is pretty terrible. Sometimes it’s so bright the actors look like they’re being interrogated by the sun.
• I’m pretty sure someone forgot their lines about twenty minutes in, but they just kept talking anyway. It works, actually.
• There’s a weird echo in the sound mix that makes every sneeze sound like a gunshot.

It’s not as cohesive as The Tame Cat, which at least had the decency to stick to a rhythm. Powder and Petrol just sort of trips over its own feet repeatedly. But there’s a certain charm to the stumbling. It’s got a grit to it that you just don't see in polished studio stuff.

There are moments where the film tries to be heavy, almost tragic, and then it immediately pivots to a guy falling over a bucket. It’s jarring. It’s messy. It’s kind of great in its own stupid way. You can almost feel the sweat on the actors' faces. 😅

If you've spent any time with Filibus, you know that era of filmmaking loved a good gimmick. This one just happens to use 'political panic' as its primary engine. It’s not a masterpiece, and it definitely doesn't care if you like it or not.

I left the screening feeling like I’d just survived a loud dinner party. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, I guess.