Wojciech Staron: The Argentinian Lesson
It has a story, a point of view, a humanistic approach and a director, who is also the cameraman and who has the skills to catch magical moments as they happen in life. A decade ago the director made ”Siberian Lesson” and now he goes to Argentina with (his family) the same teacher and her two kids. She teaches Polish to Argentinians who have Polish origins, and we see how this is practised, while the son, Janek, takes a soft step into the world of meeting the opposite sex. Into adulthood, one could maybe also say. He meets and plays with Marcia, who is a bit older than him, it seems, they are always together, he helps her earning a bit of money, there is time for games but there is also time to discover the harsh reality of Marcia’s family. They travel by train to meet her father, who lives separated from the mother, who has mental problems.
This is a film with a social content, but also a love story with many levels where much emotion is to be read in the faces of the characters. Dialogue is sparse, images give the information needed, step by step there is a development and an interpretation being made with painting-kind-of-tableaux, from the location, from the small village where it all takes place, to chapter a narrative with many sensitive and metaphoric images.
Poland, 56 mins. 2011
