Life Feels Good
Chce Sie Zyc
Director : Maciej Pieprzyca
Screenwriter : Maciej Pieprzyca
Cinematographer : Pawel Dyllus
Editor : Krzysztof Szpetmánski
Cast : Dawid Ogrodnik, Kami Tkacz, Dorota Kolak, Arkadiusz Jakubik, Katarzyna Zawadzka, Anna Nehrebecka
Music : Bartosz Chajdecki
Film production and Sales : Wieslaw Lysakowski, Tramway Studio, Rejtana 14/9, 02-516 Varsovie (Pologne), tél.: (+48-22) 845 03 52, studio@tramway.pl / TVP - Film Agency, Varsovie (Pologne), tél.: (+48-22) 547 81 67, festivals@tvp.pl
OFFICIAL FILM SYNOPSIS
"Mateusz has cerebral palsy. In addition to his obvious physical handicap, he was diagnosed at a very early age as a mentally disabled person with no communicative ability. After twenty five years, however, it turned out that apart from his physical problems, he was a perfectly normal, even quite intelligent person. The film is a chronicle of his life. We get to know Mateusz now, when he is 30 and is institutionalized at a clinic for the mentally disabled. He is about to be examined by a committee which will decide whether he is normal or not. In retrospect we follow his life from the early 1980s to the present, in happy and sad times. We also get to know the love of his life, Anka. 'The story of Przemek (the name of the real person on whom Mateusz is based) is above all a pretext to ask existential questions about life, death, faith, love, normality and understanding. Life does not bring unambiguous moments of sadness or joy; it is more a state in-between those feelings, between a funeral and a wedding. Life is both tragic and comical.'-- Maciej Pierprzyca"
The film is based on a true story. At the very end of the film we see the real person who inspired this film and whose real name is Przemek. Diagnosed at birth with a cerebral palsy, due to a medical error during his birth, he was tested through his childhood and early adulthood for any signs of intelligence. Unable to talk and to communicate to the others, he was time and again pronounced to be mentally deficient. In reality, he had a normal intelligence and an inquisitive mind, and had to live a life full of frustration, unable to convey this to others and especially to his family members. The breakthrough took place when the woman therapist who brought to Poland the BLISS communication language that enables severely handicapped people to communicate by blinking 'yes' or 'no' when shown various images (the BLISS language, which she incidentally learned in Canada). It was only then that the hero of the film, as well as the real person on whom the film is based, was able to tell the world that he was not a 'vegetable' as he was repeatedly referred to by others, even doctors, but a mentally normal person.
The role of the main character Mateusz is superbly played by the Polish actor Dawid Ogrodnik. He really deserves a prize for his skilful and sensitive portrayal of the character's handicap. The role required not only the character study but also a physical training to be able to twist his joints in conceivable and plausible ways. But that was not enough. The actor also had to train with a mime - as he told those present at the Press Conference - to be able to acquire the needed skills in order to be authentically real in his role.
Click on images to
enlarge them.
Image at the top courtesy
of MWFF and the Director of the film.
The film was awarded three prizes at the MWFF 2013:
-Grand Prix des Americas
-Ecumenical Prize
-Public
Award for the most popular film of the Festival
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