PIGGIES

Sixteen-year-old Tomek, coming to terms with a series of disappointments inflicted on him by his nearest and dearest, is determined not to lose his new girlfriend Marta. But his hard-earned cash is not sufficient to pay for Marta’s taste in brand-name shoes and the dental makeover she desperately desires. In this small town on the Polish-German border, boys of his age have better opportunities to earn money. For Marta’s sake, he joins older men inside their German cars, and becomes a “piggie” – a young male prostitute. All the same, Mara eventually abandons him for the more affluent Arek. In this world, Tomek learns from his friend Ciemny, everything is a matter of financial calculation. This harsh reality is the final, bitter straw for Tomek’s fragile inner balance, with fatal consequences for himself and the people around him. As in his previous film HI, TERESKA, Robert Gliński addresses problems faced by young people in the Poland of today. He draws a sombre picture of a generation distancing itself from traditionally close family and religious bonds. These ideologically unhoused youngsters are at the mercy of a materialism so extreme that it does not stop at the human body. Gliński’s realistic production is shot through with jump cuts that visualize the brittle fragility of a world intact only on the surface. Compulsive and rhythmic, the film sends its figures hurtling towards the abyss as it relentlessly builds up to the disturbing climax.