Edi

Edi and Jureczek are two scrap-metal pickers. Everyday they walk through neighbourhoods rich or poor with their pushcarts, collecting whatever they find, hoping it will be worth some money. In contrast to the simple-minded Jureczek, Edi is a compassionate man who likes to read and to contemplate life, the kind of a person that would turn his other cheek whan slapped. This acceptance and silence before the most tragic of events does not change even while he is castrated. Instead of screaming his hate to the man who took the woman he loved, his land and his home, he remains silent. He accepts whatever life sends him, and simply lives on. The young Polish director, Piotr Trzaskalski, employs wide shots, a slow camera, which is nevertheless almost never stationary and dim images that create an overwhelmingly melancholic atmosphere. Henrik Golebiewski as Edi and Jacek Braciak with his interpretation of Jureczek support this melancholic atmosphere. Especially brilliant is Golebiewski’s interpretation of Edi’s mental state: scarred by, and unable to overcome the effects of his childhood. Edi, rather than pretending to be a realistic film, aims to reach the emotions. Neither the main character nor the events in the film, or the dramatic structure are constructed realistically. From the scenes of Edi’s childhood scattered througout the film, it could be said that the film is actually as naïve as Edi himself. For instance in one of the scenes, while Edi sits alone thinking, the table is tracked on the same dolly as the camera. It is evident from such scenes that Edi is a film aiming to reflect the inner world of the main character. The music of Wojciech Lemanski creates an unstable set of emotions, one second offering hope, then taking it away, and supports the atmosphere. After all the film tells what Edi tries to say; whatever happens it’s your life to live! Burçin Yalçın