THE MASTER

A Russian knife-thrower gets thrown out of the circus after he gets drunk and lets the animals out of their cages. And so Alexander, 45-years-old and known as the “Master”, starts up his old van and takes to the road. During a stop he is joined by a young prostitute he saves from being raped, and later gives a lift to an accordion player as well. The threesome now tour through the Polish villages with a variety show, interrupted occasionally by the cynical and embittered Alexander’s alcoholic binges. Their destination is Paris, where Alexander thinks his art will be appreciated. During a show in a small town he meets and falls in love with a woman. When she tells him that she’s pregnant, he is stunned – and disappears… MISTRZ is a road movie in whose course the protagonists gradually open up and reveal the dark secrets that subconsciously influence their lives. With a serene rhythm and metaphorical images, this second film by Piotr Trzaskalski, whose EDI was one of the goEast Highlights in 2003, portrays a loner for whom such intimacy is a new and difficult experience. We see people battered by love and saying goodbye to their dreams, but also the process of art in the making. Konstantin Lavronenko, the Russian actor who came to notice in Andrej Svjagincev’s VOZVRAŠČENIE / THE RETURN (Russia 2003) is compelling in the role of knife-thrower Alexander.