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In the 1980s, they fled from Poland to Sweden to find independence, but instead discovered the exact opposite. Tadeusz and Krystyna are addicted to legally distributed drugs. They form an ageing couple who are drawn together more by their common weaknesses and withdrawal symptoms than a mutual attraction. The safety net of the Swedish social system meanwhile dangerously tightens in around them in proportion to their increasing need for the drugs. This observational documentary filmed by Tadeusz's son reveals, with an unusual intensity, a type of addiction that with bitter irony can be called legal. (Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival)
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Monologues of two elderly pill addicts. They’re totally out of it from dusk to dawn. They’re irritated, roaming the streets or wandering around their houses, thinking only about the next pill. Whether they’re talking to each other or to themselves, the conversation is pointless and lacks logic. For 80 minutes, we watch them in various situations, while the director doesn’t ask them anything, doesn’t analyze their past, doesn’t portray them as victims but rather as stray zombies. The movie does not go anywhere and offers no resolution. In the discussion after the screening, the director said that one of the old men from the movie was his father, which explains why he made the movie in the first place. What I personally don’t get, however, is why he is forcing his “work of art” on viewers. And why doesn’t he - together with the whole documentarist community - make documentaries about successful people who stand on their own two feet, have inspirational life stories and encourage positive thinking. Argh!
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Photo © 18. MFDF Ji.hlava 2014
