Adam Cohen & Lorenzo Castore
Italy, Germany | 2012 | 37 min
World premiere
Language : Polish
Subtitle : English
Ewa and Piotr Sosnowski are descended from a now-impoverished noble Polish family. Today the two elderly siblings, both heavy drinkers and chain-smokers, share a run-down flat in an old building. Photos in black and white bear silent witness to better days and create a strong contrast to their present lives. Dangerously close to its subjects, this film succeeds in telling a remarkable and disturbing story about memory and loss.
“The good days won’t ever come back, will they?” The elderly Ewa Sosnowski directs this rhetorical question to her brother Piotr, with whom she shares an apartment in an old building in the centre of Kraków. The wallpaper is peeling, there is no power or heating, and the progressive neglect and disintegration have left their mark on their care-worn faces. But sometimes their noble heritage still gleams through the decay – in Piotr’s passion for classical music, for example, or Ewa’s longing for culturally sophisticated conversation. Black-and-white photos, regularly blended in, bear silent witness to the good days. The family lost its wealth under Communism, and Piotr and his father drank what remained of the inheritance. Now Piotr bickers with his sister. No Peace without War – a photo exhibition about the siblings was staged in Biel/Bienne under this name. Carefully chosen sounds from a clanging guitar combined with dangerously close camera shots – even all the way to a seduction scene – strengthen the disturbing mood of this remarkable film about memory and loss.
Jenny Billeter
Translation BMP Translations