Sztuczki

"Judge by the engine, not by the mirror or radio" a driver advises another of his car, in this enchanting comedy drama with deep undercurrents. It's a maxim that might equally be applied to Tricks, a film whose well-crafted side-attractions (Tomasz Gassowski's dazzling score, and a rich painterly aesthetic) could divert attention from the finely-tuned engine of the story, ticking away softly in the background as it carries us quietly to our destination.

Precocious six-year-old Stefek (Damian Ul) lives with his adored teenage sister Elka (Ewelina Walendziak) and his rarely seen, shop-bound mother (Iwona Fornalczyk) in a sleepy post-Communist town just outside Warsaw. With no friends of his own age, life for Stefak revolves around playing with his tin soldiers on the railway tracks, cadging motorbike rides from his sister's car mechanic boyfriend Jerzy (Rafal Guzniczak), and attempting to discover the precise combination of factors that makes his neighbour's doves fly their coop on a given signal.

One day, Stefek spots a commuter at the station changing trains whom he convinces himself is their estranged father (Tomasz Sapryk). Although he abandoned his mother when Stefek was just a baby ("trapped by a woman" says Elka), he is able to recognise him from a crumpled and almost completely defaced photograph he carries in his wallet. Though Elka reacts dismissively to his plans, Stefek aims to reunite his parents ("can we reclaim him?") through a game or 'trick' his sister has taught him. As he tells Jerzy, "Careful with her, she knows tricks. She just won't admit it." The trick, which Elka demonstrates in a couple of wonderful vignettes, involves 'bribing' fate - influencing fortune without lifting a finger. All you have to do is announce your intentions to the universe, then sit back while the universe does the job for you. Stefek, however, reckons fate could do with a little shove, and through an ingenious scheme sets out to divert his father off the train platform and straight into his mother's grocery shop.

"Nothing is happening" Stefek glumly tells Elka, after his elaborate plans, involving his tin soldiers, a handful of coins and a flock of doves, seem to have come to nought. Ah, but there always is, his wiser sister replies. "Don't you feel the ground tremble?" It is this sense of something momentous coming, like a train down the tracks, that propels the award-winning Tricks, only the second feature after 2002's 'Zmruz Oczy' ('Squint Your Eyes') for philosophy graduate Andrzej Jakimowski, though it already feels like the work of a more seasoned director.

Indebted to both neo-realist Italian cinema and a gently spellbinding magic realism, Tricks richly succeeds in portraying life from an imaginative child's perspective, in which the most ordinary of objects and places take on an enchanted significance; Fredric Jameson's "poetic transformation of the object world". The importance of local community, and the role it plays in shaping affairs, is often central to the magic realist tradition, and here, Adam Bajerski's lush, golden-hued photography brings Stefan and Elkas's otherwise dingy, working-class mining town to vivid life, with its diverse population of street-sellers, village "sluts" and bird fanciers. Among a cast of non-professional actors, little Damian Ul is terrific as the pugnacious, single-minded Stefek, and Ewelina Walendziak just as good as his slyly practical sister, not long out of girlhood herself but increasingly burdened by adult responsibilities and difficult choices. Their relationship, based on the director's own when he was growing up, feels utterly authentic. In fact, as the opening titles state, the film is dedicated to "my sister, who made me sit on top of the wardrobe".

One of the truly wonderful Eastern European films. "Sztuczki" beautifully captures the spirit of the small post soviet town. I found it very recognizable as I come from that kind of place myself.

The relationship between reality of that kind of life and dream world is shown subtly and accurately in those characters. "Sztuczki" is a deep film, but the aftertaste is light and positive.

I particularly loved the casting – little boy, his sister, boy with motorcycle, mystery guy from the train platform, neighbors and ordinary passers-by – they all were poetical impersonations of the emotions people deal with in a town like that - boredom, longing, coping with everyday life, affection.

Beautiful filming, writing and acting.

This is an excellent movie and you will realize that more when you're movies professional or an individual with enormous movie knowledge because when you're watching this movie for let's say over 90 minutes, one question comes every time and that is with what idea the director has shoot ed the movie, even though he knows that, it is very difficult to convince others, i mean the cast and the crew so the movie we are watching and for an movie like this to come to this stage is really surprising and i am happy for the director and also thank him for giving us such a film.

I can give plot synopsis but the director's focus is not at all the plot and when i give the plot here, u might not find it interesting because this movie is all about excellent writing and excellent filming.

There are lot of beautiful ingredients in this movie to admire such as the kid who is really damn cute and he takes over the whole project along with the director, it is as if only the director and the kid knows about what the movie is about and we audience following them all the way.

This is the excellent movie screenplay i have ever seen, no one can write such an screenplay unless the guy has enormous movie making knowledge.

This movie extremely goes with charlie chaplin kind of narration like showing tragedy in a comical way, using kid as protoganist etc..,

please don't miss this excellent poetic picture.

To the DIRECTOR and the KID - you guys rock.....

'Tricks' (or 'Sztuczki' ) is an utterly charming and delightful film by Polish director Andrzej Jakimowski,. A young Polish boy, Stefek, is determined to find his father, whom he has never met. He has an active imagination and tries various 'tricks' to succeed. He believes in a chain of events, and that one thing will lead to the next, and that he can induce or 'bribe' fate to do what he wants. In this case to find his father. And Stefek is not one to give up lightly.

The backdrop is a small Polish village, where we witness a slice of small town life, where much activity is focused on the railway line that crosses the town.

His sister Elka is trying to find a better job, but also has to look after the boy while their mother works in a shop, and even when Elka is with her boyfriend. We meet several other colourful characters in town as young Stefek continues his quest.

It is the subtleties, the understatements that make this film so special: Stefek hesitating before answering questions, the 'tricks' he plays with coins and toy soldiers, the way how he attempts to discover the combination of factors that makes his neighbour's pigeons fly their coop. Director Jakimowski did an outstanding job.

Technically too this is an excellent film; the richly-hued cinematography by Adam Bajerski and soundtrack by Tomasz Gassowski in particular are outstanding. And then the acting by the non- professional cast; the boy Stefek played by Damian Ul, is a true natural and gave a magic performance, and so too his sister Elka (Ewelina Walendziak).

I am looking forward watching this gem of a film again. 8/10.

Stefek (Damian UI) is a bright and very observant six-year-old boy who lives with his teenage sister Elka (Ewelina Walendziak) and their mother (Iwona Fornalczyk) in a Polish village outside of Warsaw. Stefan has never seen his father (Tomasz Sapryk) who abandoned the family before he was born but thinks he recognizes him from a defaced picture in his wallet as the man boards a train each morning. Andrzej Jakimowski's Tricks is one of those rare films that you wish would never end. Winner of the Europa Cinemas prize at the Venice Film Festival, it is a delightful blend of sensitivity, intelligence, humor, and magical realism that transforms the simple truths of childhood into cinematic poetry.

The title does not refer to "turning tricks", magic shows, or being bamboozled. It is about the idea, not really a trick at all, that so-called fate can be bended to our will and Jakimowski, who studied Philosophy at the University of Warsaw, makes a very convincing case for the power of intention. The film comments on contemporary small town life in Poland as it moves from one vignette to another in an almost documentary-like manner. Elka has taught Stefek how to "bribe" fate, believing that it can be manipulated. All that is necessary, she thinks, is to declare your purpose and sit back and watch the universe comply. Stefek, on the other hand, thinks that you have to take concrete action rather than merely observing.

To prove his point, he crumbles a burger wrapper and throws it neatly into the garbage bin at the park. Elka, however, simply places the wrapper on the ground near the bin and watches as it is passed from the owner of a hungry dog to a homeless man and then into the trash without her doing a thing. In another scene, Stefek comes to the aid of an ignored apple seller by buying some of his apples and hopefully setting an example for others. She tries a different way and succeeds. Fascinated by his sister's powers, Stefek sets out to inform fate that he wants his father back and is willing to use any means at his disposal to accomplish that including toy soldiers, Elka's auto-mechanic boyfriend Jerzy (Rafal Guzniczak), coins that he throws on the railroad tracks, and a flock of pigeons.

Elka denies that the man Stefek identifies is really their father and refuses to become involved in the boy's plans, being too busy washing dishes at a restaurant, studying Italian, and concentrating on getting a job with an Italian businessman. Jakimowski has coaxed outstanding performances from his mainly non-professional cast and the film reaches a level of authenticity and poetry that is rare for a director making only his second feature. Relationships are affectionate especially the one that young Stefek strikes up with the man at the train station, ultimately devising a scheme to try and bring him back to his mother's grocery shop. Supported by cinematographer Adam Bajerski's stunning close-ups and wide-street shots and a pitch perfect score by Tomasz Gassowski, Tricks is a genuinely moving film that may just bribe fate to make it a contender for Best Foreign Film at next year's Oscars.