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SYNOPSIS:
Mariola dreams about a better life. She wants to leave the
small provincial town where she lives. Her boyfriend Artur
invites her for a short vacation to Germany to introduce her
to his parents. On their way they spend the night at Artur's
friends in Berlin. When his pals show up, they hand him the
money. It turns out that Mariola has just been sold to be
a prostitute.
MOVIE
REVIEW
This Polish
film is about human trafficking, and you won’t expect
anything joyful or merry about it. A large number of these
people are women, and many of them end up in brothels, selling
their bodies for survival. Although this takes place mostly
in other parts of the world, this is one sad facet of life
we can’t shun away from. This 97 minute is a dramatized
account of one such story. In fact, this feature is so cheerless,
it’ll make you see the world in a different light –
a darker and shadier tone, that is.
Director
Franco De Pena pens this film with Chris Burdza and Tomasz
Kepski about a young woman who was living happily with her
grandmother in Poland. She gets to know a boy who promises
to bring her to Europe to work there. When they cross Germany,
the poor girl is sold as a prostitute and the film follows
her painful experience as she fights to free herself from
human slavery. Her repeated attempts to get help shape her
personality and her increasing determination to go home to
her grandmother. What culminates is a stark finale that may
leave some viewers teary eyed.
What grabs
your attention initially is the angry and intense performance
by Anna Cieslak, who plays the victim Mariola (she is forced
to be called Justine when she becomes a prostitute). Her portrayal
of an unfortunate human mistreated cruelly is almost agonizing
to watch. Her desperation and fear is potent and commanding,
earning her the award for Best Debut Actor at 2005’s
Polish Film Festival at home. Giving convincing performances
are her co stars Arno Frisch and Rafal Mackowiak as the people
she meets on her ill fated journey.
Powerful
performances aside, this film makes you think about the ugliness
of human nature and how the state of things are much worse
outside our comfortable country. Sure, you may have seen many
such sob stories depicted on screen before, but you also have
to admit that they affect you every time. A film like that
does not need fancy camera work to tell its story. It does
not need gimmicky editing effects to make you feel rejuvenated.
All it needs is a truthful and grounded tale that is actually
happening in the world, and the fact that the affected party
could be you, makes you feel for the doomed lives of these
unfortunate souls.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 disc contains no special features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
visual transfer is a little grainy, but that suits the grittiness
of the film. It is presented in its original Polish Dolby
Digital 2.0 audio track.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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