A ten-year-old girl runs away from home. She is mainly running away from her wealthy but toxic parents, with whom she finds it very difficult to find an understanding. She finds shelter with her former teacher, Jasiek, who has hidden himself away deep in the countryside, taking a position as a watchman at a decaying farm that was once part of a state collective farm. Jasiek used to live in the big, noisy city, but escaped it after coming to the conclusion that he had seen enough of the rat race.
He is far from being a loser, however, for he is a watchman by choice. Even more than this, he is a philosopher and thinker who like Diogenes has found his barrel and now delights in doing nothing, that is, in tasting of pure existence. He nevertheless remains a teacher, whether he wants to or not. He patiently talks to Mała (The Little One), teaching her how to reconcile unfettered freedom with dependence on others, especially those dear to her. In any case, Jasiek generally likes talking to people and especially to those who are considered weirdoes. Perhaps his favorite is Eugeniusz (Eugene), the local 'idiot' who whiles away his time studying Greek hexameter. Mała's impatient parents try to convince their rebellious daughter to return home, though they seem rather lost in life. At the same time, and in spite of themselves, they draw advantage from the lessons of the 'country teacher'.
This film contains subtle lyricism, parodies of bureaucracy, and wonderful, purely nonsensical dialogues that 'pass each other in the night.' There are also two superbly drawn secondary characters (Guźniczak and Mastalerz) and a lot of authentic tenderness. The title might be suggesting that we retain only the most essential matters within sight, matters that we cleanse of details that we perceive as being of secondary importance. Yet it may also suggest that the blurred image we get when we squint our eyes can liberate the imagination - and the strength of the film seems concealed in this duality of vision. (Paweł Mossakowski, Gazeta Wyborcza, October 22, 2003)
Like Polański did early in his career, Polish director (and screenplay author) Andrzej Jakimowski offers us a surrealistic parable. In his film Squint Your Eyes, he shows his native Poland as lying between lethargy and a Capitalist march toward nouveau richness, and does so with admirable lightness and humor. The film's visual beauty is simply inspiring. (Titel Magazin für Literatur und Film)
We have a blue sky, bright light. There is also a blond woman in a blue dress. She walks back and forth without purpose, then sits in front of the decaying storehouse located somewhere in the Polish countryside, where boredom and the sunny mood combine to the point of being indiscernible. The woman's dress billows in the wind. This lasts several minutes and is accompanied by no dialogue. Suddenly, as the woman takes an incautious step, her dress catches fire. The man sitting nearby rips off the burning dress and puts out the flame... You would have to see this yourself in order to believe that this scene from Andrzej Jakimowski's film, through the tension that is built up in spite of its calm tempo, was the strongest moment on screen during this year's competition of the 51st Mannheim-Heidelberg Festival, which is just now concluding. (Frankfurter Rundschau)
Awards:
2002: Mannheim International Film Festival - FIPRESCI Award
2003: Festival of Polish Feature Films, Gdynia - Special Jury Prize, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costumes and Best Directing Debut
KSF Młodzi i film / Youth and Film Koszalin Film Meetings, Koszalin - Special Jury Prize for 'traced an ambitious path for Polish artistic cinema'
Ogólnopolski Festiwal Sztuki Filmowej Prowincjonalia / Prowincjonalia Polish National Festival of Film Art, Września - Best Cinematography, Best Music and Journalists' Prize
Lato filmów / Film Summer, Kazimierz Dolny - Audience Award for Best Polish Film, Łódź - Special Prize for Cinematography
- Squint Your Eyes / Zmruż oczy. Written and directed by: Andrzej Jakimowski. Director of photography: Adam Bajerski, Paweł Śmietanka. Production design: Ewa Jakimowska. Music by: Tomasz Gąssowski. Editing: Cezary Grzesiuk. Executive production: Martis. Featuring: Zbigniew Zamachowski (Jasiek), Ola Prószyńska ("Mała" / "The Little One"), Rafał Guźniczak (Sosnowski), Małgorzata Foremniak ("Mała's" Mother), Andrzej Chyra ("Mała's" Father), Andrzej Mastalerz (Eugeniusz), Jerzy Rogalski (Director Musiał), Krzysztof Ławniczak (LiquidatorWięcek), Ryszard Orlik (Driver of Truck), Rafał Walentowicz (Barber), Justyna Godlewska (Secretary), Alicja Bach (Waiting Woman), Andrzej Golejewski (Carpenter), Cezary Garbowicz (Lawyer), Kama Kowalczyk (Sosnowski's Sister), Bartek Kuckowski (Dziekońszczuk). Production: Zjednoczenie Artystów i Rzemieślników. 2002, color, duration: 88 min.