By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Dorota Kedzierzawska
Starring: Agnieszka Nagorzycka | Piotr Jagielski
Original language title: Jestem
Country: poland
Year: 2005
Running time: 96
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478175/combined
Bruce says: “Looking at the world through a child’s eyes is a wonderful cinematic experience providing the director is competent
and the child is perfect for the role. Fortunately both ingredients are present in I AM. Piotr, the lead, was found just ten days before filming began. . He is brave, strong and sensitive, a combination which appealed to writer/director Dorota Kedzierzawska. The first thing she asked him was ‘Can you cry?’ Another child had already been cast in the role so Ms. Kedzierzawska must have been very impressed by what she saw.
“In the first scene of the film, a young boy of about ten is in an orphanage. He is harassed by the other boys and unnecessarily disciplined by the adults in charge. It is not long before he escapes. His first effort is a trip to see his mother, a prostitute who tells him, ‘I’m looking for love. I don’t know how to be alone.’ He realizes he is not a candidate for her love or companionship so he sets off on his own.
“To earn money for food he collects scrap metal. He is a child with a great set of skills and the inner strength to use them. He refuses handouts because he wants to survive on his own. A local gang of boys call him ‘Mongrel’ and chase him through the streets like a stray dog. Eventually he discovers an abandon barge where he sets up home. Two young girls on the hillside above the barge discover him; on befriends him and the other betrays him. Their father thinks ‘a poor man is like trash.’ On a last attempt to connect with his mother she tells him, ‘I never want to see you again, do you hear?’ When the police catch him he refuses to tell them his name.
“Dorota Kedzierzawska handles the bleak subject with the utmost of care. She knows how to tell a story with a minimum of dialogue and the right camera angle for every emotion. Having such a wonderful young actor to work with must have cut her work in half. 4 cats
“I AM was shown at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.”