April 17, 2008
De Volkskrant


Director Andrzej Jakimowski has an older sister whom he admired when he was small. She often had to look after him, and when she did, she parked him on top of a cabinet where he would not come to any harm.

Memories of childhood are the starting point for Tricks, in which the six year old Stefek time and time again makes an effort to change the course of fate. He is convinced that his sister Elka knows how to do it. She knows all the tricks.

The movie is not entirely autobiographical, but it is clear that Jakimowski was once a boy just like Stefek. In a serious and lively way Tricks conjures up a feeling that we can change the course of events in the world if we only try hard enough.

Stefek's magical thinking and his unlimited confidence in the adults around him, so typical of his peers but later just as soon forgotten, are all shown with an accurate touch by Jakimowski.
Stefek and Elka live in the countryside. Their father left the family years ago. Stefek thinks he saw him at the train station where he changes trains every day. It has to be different, the boy thinks: he will guide the man to his mother.

The emphasis on Stefek's naive gaze, the warm camerawork and the lazy atmosphere of a provincial town in the summer turn Tricks despite the contemporary setting into a nostalgic drama. Jakimowski's film language is timeless, his costumes old-fashioned. The eighteen year old Elka, with her long legs and short skirts, seems to have stepped straight out of the sixties, just like her sluttily dressed neighbor. Such ingredients could make for a sticky movie, but Jakimowski steers clear of cheap sentiment. 'Tricks' are a sincere ode to the big dreams of a small boy.

PK, De Volkskrant

http://www.volkskrant.nl/archief_gratis/article606814.ece/Lome_sfeer_in_een_tijdloos_drama