Having watched Pregi at the opening of the Polish Film Festival in London I can highly recommend this film. It works on so many levels addressing the emotional issues surrounding the father/son relationship and how the sins of the fathers can impact on their children in later life. One of the big successes of the movie is the on screen relationship between the young Woitek (Waclaw Adamczyk) and his father (Jan Frycz). Apparently the genuine friction in this coupling was maintained by the actors keeping their distance from one another whilst off set. The sense of fear in Wojtek was palpable and a teenage actor with lesser ability could have scuppered the whole project. Another triumph was the performance of Michal Zebrowski who played the adult Wojciech. After his performances in films such as 'Pan Tadeusz' it was good to see him get his teeth stuck into a real part which required him to demonstrate a whole gamut of emotions which he did more than ably. I was lucky enough to be involved in a question and answer session with Director Magdalena Piekorz after the screening where she gave an insight into the making of the film. I am sure that both critics and fans of Pregi will watch with great interest her follow-up projects which she is still to get funding for. One would hope that after such a fantastic debut feature the money will be forthcoming.
