Z serii "Konkrety" (1)

it's funny

when you lie on your bed
while crying
the tears pour down your cheeks
sideways
straight into your ears

?Y ahora, adónde?

Mar adentro, mar adentro,
y en la ingravidez del fondo
donde se cumplen los suenos,
se juntan dos voluntades
para cumplir un deseo.

Tu mirada y mi mirada
como un eco repitiendo, sin palabras
mas adentro, mas adentro
hasta el mas alla del todo
por la sangre y por los huesos.

(de los poemas de Ramón, "Mar Adentro" A. Amenabar)

photos: Stanisław Drężek

About Noticing Things

I'm definitely not a film freak. I prefer music; I can sit for hours and think or imagine things. I can dance until I'm totally breathless and dizzy. It inspires me a lot. However, with films it's different. I consider watching every new movie waste of time doing. Instead, I can watch the same film, the one I became fond of, several times. I'm not sure if I'll manage to set a new record after "Moulin Rouge" and "Rosario Tijeras," but the next film I consider hugely moving and thought-provoking is "American Beauty" directed by Sam Mendes. This was one of films that made me sit still for about an hour after the film finished and just think.

First of all, the main subject is beauty. Although each of the protagonists craves for something and feels unfulfilled, there is something positive in the film. The beauty that we experience in life turns out to be something unbearable, meaning that there are so many things to be loved and admired that you become overwhelmed by them. They can move you to tears. "Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry." Sadly, a boy who notices these tiny things is considered mental. But it's good to find things in life that are worth watching. What the boy frequently uses is a camera, which can enable you to get something that normally you can miss. In such a hurry like nowadays, we frequently miss things. With camera you can zoom in on things, and notice more. And if you do, it's hard to get angry with life and what it's done to you since there's so much beauty.

Second, probably many of us have lived life and at some point realized that are dead, that is unsatisfied with life they have. Similarly, the 42-year old Lester discovers his needs when introduced to his daughter's friend, a young and sexy girl. He wants to change. And he does. He says, "I've been in a coma for 20 years and now I've just woken up." He is no longer indifferent to how people behave or treat him. He even gets fit. It's never too late, as people say. To me passiveness is the worst thing ever. It reminds me of constant depression. How can you live with it for so many years? Change or die, I would say.

Next, the subject of being ordinary is also raised. The teenage girl that Lester has a crush on maintains that there's nothing worse than being ordinary. I'm afraid she might be right. Even when you're criticized, you get the feeling that other people are interested in you. If they ignore you, they're telling you that you're boring. I'm sure it doesn't take a vain person to feel bad about being unnoticed.

Finally, the subject of imagination provokes me to thinking. Probably it was not aimed to do so much, though. Nevertheless, I find it interesting and quite familiar since my experience so far has shown the similar. Namely, Lester is a perfect example of a victim of his own imagination. Your imagination can lead you anywhere. You might see plenty of strange things in your dreams. And why do you dream? Why do you imagine things? Because you think you've missed something in life like Lester? Or just out of being bored and awaiting new adventures? You might try to convince me that just the fact that you imagine something to be doesn't mean that eventually it will come true. However, I will still insist that sometimes it does come true. I mean your imagination is such a powerful thing that in the most unexpected moment it will be converted into reality. So be careful with your dreaming...

I think everyone in the film learnt a lesson. But what about us, mere puppets?