LE MONDE | 21.10.08 |

Critique

scene from "Tricks" ("Sztuczki"), a Polish movie directed by Andrzej Jakimowski.

Show that life can be beautiful, even in a grey provincial town. Prove that Polish cinema is not yet solely condemned to filming desperate people. The young filmmaker Andrzej Jakimowski puts his principles into action in this movie, which received the Label of the best European film at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. Raised by a mother who works in a grocery store and an older sister, whose dating he keeps an eye on, a 10 year old child dreams of the return of his father, "kidnapped by a woman". After observing a traveller picked out at the local railway station, he convinces himself that this is the man for whose return he has been waiting. The kid is convinced that it's possible to play with fate, prevent this man from catching his train, and eventually lead him to his family's home. Elegantly illuminated, bathed in a golden light, this movie praises the irreducible faith of a child, who is a lover of bets and uses irrational "tricks": scattering coins on railroad tracks, using lead soldiers as amulets, snapping his fingers... The movie praises savoring life, biting into a watermelon, looking at young girls bathing in a river. Somehow, a charm is at work here.
Jean-Luc Douin

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A Polish movie directed by Andrzej Jakimowski. (1 h 32.)

online version
http://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2008/10/21/un-conte-d-ete-polonais-la-foi-irreductible-d-un-enfant_1109266_3476.html

Translated by Justine Julie Charlet