I had not planned to see this one, it turned out as a distinct and memorable watch when I was surfing the channels on television for something good to enjoy. I had not seen it from the start, the part from where Mariole and her boyfriend are shown together having a good time. It seemed to be
a love story at that point of time. It was on the
UTV World Movies, and at the time of commercial I gathered the information that it belonged to "
Polish Drama" as a genre. Never before had I really heard about
Poland. Except for few of the European cosmetics that I use, which have "made in Poland" mentioned on them. Apart from that it was just the World War connections that connect me to Poland. Therefore, this movie came as a chance to connect with the "not-so-popular" country from the
Europe. I liked those fields where they both were shown, it seemed like a very pretty fairy tale love story, but within sometime the story took a new turn, and turned out to be the basic "shelf-trade story" that I have seen so many made in my country. It really took as a shocker, because I had never seen any foreign movie on this subject, except for read stories, saw some documentary, news or seen it happening in real with some maids who worked for us when I was really small. I was small then to understand all that, but was able to place the stories with the gathered knowledge as I grew up.
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| your-name-is-justine |
The movie was indeed different; I remember each and every scene that I saw of it. May it has got to do with the feelings of a woman with which I can relate, even though when we both are far apart, but still connected with the strong connect of humanity. I think the movie connects because it was narrated from the woman's deep inside soul. It was not a mere dramatization of the scene unfolding, but the free flow of
emotions and reactions, which were so damn natural. All the while I wished and prayed, poor Mariole should not have gone through this, and someone should help her.
I like to recall the movie from the ending, do not know why. I loved it when she says to herself: "
The girls got married... they look happy"; and "where is God, where is Love". Then she also runs on the beach leaving all her tears and grief behind, trying to find happiness and comfort again in the company of her friends. Deep inside I am sure she must have wanted to live their life, but she knows she cannot do a thing about it. So, she just runs and runs to move forward, runs to leave all grief behind.
Another of my favourite is when that pimp of hers asks her in the kitchen "Do you mind giving me a hand??" She was drinking something, and she immediately keeps her glass and starts cutting the meat. That was so touching, though it just looks like a normal scene. I felt that she must have taken this as an opportunity to be considered as a wife, girl-friend, friend, mate, woman or just a human to another human. All these roles she had forgotten long ago. Her life was just limited to being a tunnel; both in physical and emotional sense. It was dark and hollow.
The high point in the movie is when she was contemplating suicide. That scene oh my God is so etched in my memory. I thought she would fall from the window; no other woman would even have had half of her strength, to not fall. The maximum she could allow the insanity to take over her was when she had chopped off her hair and had made cuts all over her face and body. That was just minutes of succumbing into the situation, but she was out of it soon.
Another scene I recall when her estranged boyfriend asks her to sign on some paper, and she refuses to do it. She then later is succumbed to sign on the paper without uttering a single word, when he shows a clip of her grandmother in his
hand-phone to her. She simply signs off and tears start flowing on her face, but there was not even an inch of expression change on her face. It just meant that though she has been hardened with the experiences, but still she has no control over her emotions for the loved ones and that gets evident in the form of tears when she remembers them.
Even the man who helps her escape and then pimps her is also a very good actor. Mariole and he share a beautiful
love-hate relationship. She obviously likes him; considering he was much much better when compared to the other men she came across. It was a cute scene when she puts the ice-cream on his face when he was trying to cajole her to eat. She was not scared of ruining his face, because deep inside she knew he was not bad, except that he had no other means to earn money except through her. I feel that is the reason she was always with him, and did not try escaping much in the beginning. Somehow she felt safe and connected with him.
I just pray and hope that anything even remotely similar to this should not be a real story in any part of the World. But God forbid, if so happens, then each individual should have at least half of Mariole's mental and emotional strength to deal with it.
A must watch.
