MISTRZ / THE
MASTER
DIRECTOR: PIOTR TRZASKALSKI
POLAND, GERMANY 2005
110 MIN / 35MM, COLOR, POL./RUSS. OV w. engl. ST
Caligari: 09.04. / 5.30 pm
Alpha: 10.04. / 2.00 pm
DIRECTOR:
Piotr Trzaskalski
SCREENPLAY:
Piotr Trzaskalski
Wojciech Lepianka
CAMERA:
Piotr Sliskowski
ART DIRECTOR:
Wojciech Zogala
EDITOR:
Cezary Kowalczuk
MUSIC:
Wojciech Lemanski
PRODUCER:
Piotr Dzieciol
Lukasz Dzieciol
CAST:
Konstantin Lawronienko
Jacek Braciak
Monika Buchowiec
Teresa Branna
Aurelia Georges
PRODUCTION:
Opus Film, Lodz
Tel.: 0048 - 42 / 634 55 00
Fax: 0048 - 42 / 634 55 49
e-mail: opus@opusfilm.com
CO-PRODUKTION / CO-PRODUCTION:
Peter Rommel Productions, Berlin
Tel.: 0049 - 30 / 693 70 78
Fax: 0048 - 30 / 692 95 75
e-mail: p.rommel@t-online.de
IN COOPERATION WITH:
ZDF / Arte
DISTRIBUTION:
mdc int. film & media distribution, Berlin
Tel.: 0049 - 30 / 264 979 00
Fax: 0049 - 30 / 264 979 10
e-mail: info@mdc-int.de
A Russian knife-thrower gets thrown out of the circus after he gets drunk
and lets the animals out of their cages. And so Alexander, 45-years-old
and known as the “Master”, starts up his old van and takes
to the road. During a stop he is joined by a young prostitute he saves
from being raped, and later gives a lift to an accordion player as well.
The threesome now tour through the Polish villages with a variety show,
interrupted occasionally by the cynical and embittered Alexander’s
alcoholic binges. Their destination is Paris, where Alexander thinks his
art will be appreciated. During a show in a small town he meets and falls
in love with another woman. When she tells him that she’s pregnant,
he is stunned. And disappears without trace...
MISTRZ is a road movie in whose course the protagonists gradually open
up and reveal the dark secrets that subconsciously influence their lives.
With a serene rhythm and metaphorical images, this second film by Piotr
Trzaskalski, whose EDI was one of the goEast Highlights in 2003, portrays
a loner for whom such intimacy is a new and difficult experience. We see
people battered by love and saying goodbye to their dreams, but also the
process of art in the making. Konstantin Lavronenko, the Russian actor
who came to notice in Andrej Svjagincev’s VOZVRASCENJE / THE RETURN
is compelling in the role of knife-thrower Alexander.
|