Robert Gliński's Świnki" / "Piggies was released on May 20, 2011, following an eighteen-month delay. The film premiered at the 2009 Polish Film Festival in Gdynia - 15-year-old Filip Garbacz, who plays "Tomek", received an award for his role in the film.
Gliński's film was screened as part of the competition, along with Galerianki" / "Mall Girls directed by Katarzyna Rosłaniec. The two films managed to amass a lot of media speculation. Many postulated that having two distinct film-makers, with very different filmographies, choosing to explore the same subject of school students in an almost identical manner, could not have been a coincidence. Had the cinematic release of both films coincided, the discussion would have continued further. But, whereas Rosłaniec's film was released shortly after the Gdynia festival, (where Galerianki picked up the award for best directorial debut), Gliński's film ran into unexpected difficulties and the director was forced him to put his project on hold. In spite of this, the film's subject remains very relevant.
Both Piggies and Galerianki deal with the subject of child prostitution, however Gliński's adolescent protagonists are neither poverty-stricken, nor the victims of broken homes. Their choices are instead driven by consumerism and peer pressure. In Galerianki Ala seeks social acceptance by acquiring money for designer clothes and accessories. Prostitution in shopping centres seems like the simplest solution to achieve such acceptance. In Świnki, where the action takes place in a small town on the German-Polish border, teenager Tomek requires money to fulfil the needs of both his family and his girlfriend. He finally turns to prostitution as a last resort and is forced to grow up prematurely.
In Kino (no.9/2002) director Robert Gliński describes Tomek as:
an active character. He has goals in life and wants to be active. When he falls in love and tries to satisfy his girlfriend's whims, his energy is converted into acquiring money. He uses his cleverness and intelligence to devise different solutions. These are, after all, positive traits. This boy's problems stem from the fact that he is present in a world in which both geographical, and, more importantly, moral boundaries have vanished. The reality faced by young people today is devoid of a value hierarchy. Money is becoming more essential in order to lead (your) life – and (these kids) can take a short cut in order to earn it.
Images 1-8: Stills from Świnki by Robert Gliński.
The director also outlined the message the film aims to convey:
The world in which Tomek lives is not compatible with his abilities. Firstly, his parents (...are unwilling) to acknowledge (his) problems. They are still influenced by a socialist mentality. The 'if I just keep my mouth shut, I won't get into any trouble' sort of mindset. Secondly – the Catholic Church. At this point I would like to stress that I am not criticising the church as a whole, because it exists as a very interesting and complex phenomenon in Poland. Different kinds of directions, tendencies and attitudes clash within the institution of the Catholic Church. (...) The Church in our film has a religious function, it celebrates prayer and a relationship with God, but it somehow forgets to acknowledge its worshippers' contemporary lives, and fails to notice that what it refers to as a paradise on earth, is not actually a paradise. I do not think there is a straightforward answer to the 'who's the guilty party?' question. It is more the case of a whole variety of circumstances coming together. The new times in which we live in offer a multitude of fantastic possibilities, but also, unfortunately, threats.
Robert Gliński's film is the result of a Polish-German collaboration. Apart from the moving story of a boy who grew up too fast, it depicts the borderland and its customs – two nations living alongside one another in a state of symbiosis, using the opportunities created by their neighbours. It is also a depiction of a community aspiring to become European and striving to eliminate the border between "old" and "new" Europe as quickly as possible.
The film was also screened in a festival that took place in Karlovy Vary. Barbara Hollender reported on Świnki's positive reception in Rzeczpospolita (July 8, 2009):
They are 15-16 years old and have wild dreams: they want to live like the people featured in colourful magazines. Things that matter (to them) include having a decent mobile phone, fashionable clothes and drinks to consume at the disco. They know they have to earn these luxuries themselves. In any way possible. This is the starting point of "Świnki", similar to that of "Galerianki" by Katarzyna Rosłaniec. The film-makers, like a highly sensitive seismograph measuring the moods of society, outline a new, increasingly common occurrence in Poland. "Mall girls" prostitute themselves in a Warsaw shopping centre, the young characters in Gliński's film do the same in a small town on the Polish-German border. Cars bearing German number plates pick up very young girls and boys, and drop them off at the same spot two hours later, clutching 20 or 50 Euro notes. The story depicted in "Świnki" is authentic. Joanna Didik, the film's scriptwriter, grew up in a small town on the borders of Poland and went to school with such boys and girls. Gliński shows the whole spiral of evil which draws in the 15-year-old protagonist. He portrays the process of losing innocence, boundaries and illusions. (...) Watching this film, I wondered whether the image of deprived children is not perhaps exaggerated. If it isn't, then we have all lost.
- Świnki / Ich Tomek, Poland and Germany 2009. Directed by: Robert Gliński, written by: Joanna Didik, Robert Gliński, director of photography: Petro Aleksowski, music composed by: Cornelius Renz, set design: Stefan Hauck, costume: Agata Culak, edited by: Krzysztof Szpetmański, sound recording: Florian Marquardt, Łukasz Banach. Cast: Filip Garbacz (Tomek), Anna Kulej (Marta), Daniel Furmaniak (Łukasz "Ciemny"), Rolf Hoppe (Mr. Weber), Dorota Wierzbicka (Tomek's mother), Bogdan Koca (Tomek's father). Produced by: Widwark – Film and TV production – 42film GmbH – Synchron – und Tonstudio Leipzig GmbH, Mega Tv Studio - Piramida Film. Co-financed by: The Polish Film Institute, Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung. Distributed by Monolith Films. Running time: 93min. Cinema release date: May 20, 2011.
Author: Konrad J. Zarębski, May 2011