Youth culture

The film "Piggies" by acclaimed director Robert Glinski comes to Polish theaters this month. It's about Polish call boys who ply their trade across the border in Germany. Meanwhile, Katarzyna Rosloniec's "Mall Girls" tells the story of young shoppers who will stop at nothing to get their hands on desirable fashion items.

The two productions have sparked a debate on the moral fiber of modern young Poles.

In an early scene in "Piggies," a shy 16-year-old named Tomek is being pimped to a gay German driver who has crossed the border looking for sex. The pimp uses dry, unemotional language to explain to the boy what the transaction is about and what the rewards are. They agree on a price and Tomek gets into the car.

For the love of gadgets

But Tomek is not a runaway from a broken home. Nor is he a young gay rebel. He lives a seemingly normal life with his family, has a girlfriend, goes to school, and the only thing that sets him apart from his mates is the number of flashy gadgets he owns.

Glinski says he has long wanted to make a movie to ask a crucial question: Do young Polish people have any morals?

"'Piggies' means prostituting teenagers who are selling their bodies mostly to German pedophiles for money, gadgets like electronic devices and cosmetics," said Glinski. "Twenty years ago we finished with the socialist system and we went into capitalism. The morality in Poland has changed at every level, mostly in young people."

"'Piggies is a film about a world without borderlines," he added. "We have no borders between countries, but we have no borderlines in morality too."

Rosloniec's "Mall Girls" was shot at a shopping center in central Poland, and seems light years away from the seedy world of gay pickup points at the Polish-German border. But the storyline is remarkably similar. Four teenage girls support their compulsive shopping habits by turning tricks in the mall's toilets.

Film reflects real life

In one scene, one of the girls gives a newcomer tips on how to get a sponsor. She explains that love doesn't exist anymore, and that all that counts is what you can get for casual sex.

Agnieszka, the child actor who plays the main character, admits that among her friends, there are many who would support this philosophy.

"It's not just a story the screen writer came up with," she said. "It really happens. In the making of the film we spoke with many girls like that. It's a movie about what some young Polish people are really like."

One of the strengths of "Mall Girls" is its soundtrack, written by O.S.T.R., known as the intellectual Polish rapper. His lyrics capture the rhythm and imagery of the slang young Poles use. Director Rosloniec has also won praise for capturing the speech of ordinary teenagers.

Ear for ordinary speech

"The way the girls talk matters a lot in the film," Rosloniec said. "The idea is to tell the story using the language of young people. I had to get inside the head of a teenage girl and see the world with her eyes."

Both "Mall Girls" and "Piggies" have won accolades on the international stage, including at the Toronto Film Festival. Film critic Krzysztof Fordonski said the stories of the moral void in which young eastern Europeans live have captured the attention of foreign audiences.

"I would say that it's the pace at which Poland and the rest of the central and eastern European countries change that can amaze," he said. "These films simply tell us a story as it is. They border on the documentary, leaving the commentary to the audience."

This type of filmmaking is a side-effect of changes in the financing system, according to Fordonski.

"In the 1990s and early 2000s the cinema was dominated by people willing to offer their money to finance entertainment. Now there's a new state fund which helps young directors make their first movies," he explained. "It is important that these issues are shown on the screen."

It can be said that films like "Mall Girls" and "Piggies" make for depressing viewing. But their arrival has been welcomed by audiences and critics alike, because they are a stark contrast to the romantic comedies and thrillers the Polish cinema industry usually turns out.

For their part, directors like Robert Glinski and Katarzyna Rosloniec are hoping that their movies will also make young Poles think twice about their behavior.

Author: Rafal Kiepuszewski (jen)
Editor: Kate Bowen