Piotr Głowacki and Wojciech Mecwaldowski in Bodo Kox's "Girl From the Wardrobe", photo: Anna Rzepka/Kino Świat.
Jacek (Piotr Głowacki) is a thirtysomething webmaster who enjoys the company of pretty women. He lives with his brother, who has savant syndrome. Jacek has been taking care of Tomek (Wojciech Mecwaldowski) since the deaths of their parents. Tomek doesn't speak much, has a brain tumour - and enjoys climbing on roofs to imagine that the sky is filled with zeppelins. Jacek works from home, and when he leaves to meet clients or go on a date, he leaves Tomek with their nosy neighbour (Teresa Sawicka).
One day she is not home and Jacek knocks for the first time on the door of the red-headed girl from across the hall. That's when they meet Magda (Magdalena Różańska).
Bodo's take on loneliness
Girl from the Wardrobe touches on the need for security. Kox's three protagonists, Jacek, Tomek and Magda, are alienated and deeply lonely. Scared of getting close to another person and allowing anyone close to them, they yearn to be with someone, someone who'd understand them and their "otherness". Each protagonists is different and "weird" in their own way. Magda doesn't like other people, she is depressed and spends hours locked in a closet. Tomek, on the other hand, gives the impression he doesn't see anything that happens around him. But soon they discover a unspoken connection between each other - they start to become friends.
For his mainstream debut, Bodo Kox combines comedy and psychological drama, creating a fairy-tale like story about people who are lost. His film has a touch of the Coen brothers' Barton Fink, and is reminiscent of Sundance-style comedies about people who screw up in life. Integrating melodrama and irony, touching the viewer and making him laugh, the film is a unique project on the Polish cinema scene.
Although Girl from the Wardrobe is his studio debut, Bodo Kox is an experienced filmmaker, creating independent films and earning the reputation of "icon of the Polish off scene". These productions were full of absurd, over-the-top humour. Girl from the Wardrobe is no less humorous, fresh and easygoing, but is more toned down and meticulously structured. Read more on Kox's indie productions here.
The Polish Rain Man
Eryk Lubos, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Piotr Głowacki - the film would not have been the same without their subtlety and feeling in their roles. But the one who stands out is Wojciech Mecwaldowski as Tomek who was so far associated with comedies. In Girl from the Wardrobe, he doesn't go to the extents of Sean Penn in Jessie Nelson's I Am Sam, and from small gestures, deft reactions and few words, Mecwaldowski builds the portrait of a boy who is aware of being sick. Polish critics have called the film the Polish Rain Man.
With Magda's small apartment-block flat turning into a setting from the Jungle Book, dark hallways transforming into labyrinths of human fears - the film's strength also lies in its visual effects, the work of cinematographer Arkadiusz Tomiak and set designer Andrzej Haliński.
Entering the Polish mainstream, Bodo Kox proves he has what it takes to be one of the scene's most interesting figures. His new film is fresh, intelligent, impressive and full of feeling.
Author: Bartosz Staszczyszyn, translated and edited by MJ 11.06.2013