Archive of films Body / Ciało

Poland
2015, 90 min

Section: Horizons
Year: 2015

Solitude has a myriad forms, as do the attempts to escape it. Olga opts for self-destructive anorexia, her father chooses the bottle, and the unconventional therapist who's supposed to help them believes in the hereafter. This family drama about the difficulty of coming to terms with the loss of someone close won Best Director at the Berlinale.


Synopsis

Olga, who struggles with anorexia, has been living with her father since her mother’s tragic death. As a prosecutor her father has to deal with dead bodies on a daily basis, so he doesn’t really acknowledge his daughter’s loss. For his part, he handles his own bereavement with doses of cynicism and liquor, for which Olga cannot excuse him. Obstinacy prevents them from reaching out to one another, and the problems they face under the same roof culminate in Olga’s breakdown, after which she is placed under professional supervision. Therapist Anna, who is convinced she can communicate with the dead, offers them some unconventional assistance... A family drama with elements of black comedy which focuses on three lonely individuals who are trying to escape their sorrow: one to esoterica, another to the bottle, and the third to her own destruction. The characters also serve as a mirror reflecting a modern Poland that is abandoning its traditional values, but doesn’t know where to turn: to a world of illusory ideals like Olga, to cynicism and vodka like her father, or back to spiritual beliefs, where Anna seeks her salvation?

Kamila Dolotina

About the director

Małgorzata Szumowska

Małgorzata Szumowska (b. 1973, Kraków) studied direction at the Polish National Film School in Łódź (1998) and, apart from making feature and documentary films, she is currently also a screenwriter and producer. In her films she addresses inter-personal issues stemming from social taboos. Her debut Happy Man (Szczęşliwy człowiek, 2000) was nominated for a European Film Award and, that same year, Szumowska was appointed a member of the European Film Academy. She has been regularly presenting her films at the Berlinale since 2004. Her previous film In the Name of (W imię…, 2013) searched the soul of a gay priest and took away the Berlin IFF’s Teddy Award for the best film treating a queer theme. Problems of contemporary society, Poland in particular, are also examined in her latest film, Body (2015), which brought her Best Director (ex aequo) in the main competition at Berlin.

Contacts

Memento Films International
9, cité Paradis, 750 10, Paris
France
Tel: +33 153 349 020
Fax: +33 142 471 124
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.memento-films.com

About the film

Color, DCP

Section: Horizons
   
Director: Małgorzata Szumowska
Screenplay: Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert
Dir. of Photography: Michał Englert
Editor: Jacek Drosio
Art Director: Elwira Pluta
Producer: Jacek Drosio, Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert
Production: Nowhere
Coproduction: D35
Cast: Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwała, Ewa Dałkowska
Sales: Memento Films International
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