Tramw: Ay Film Studio
Silesia Film Institute
Telew: Izja Polska (TVP)
MONTERNIA. PL
The Polish Film Institute
present a film by Maciej Pieprzyca
LIFE FEELS GOOD
The film w: As inspired by real events.
Good morning.
Go ahead, please.
Mateusz.
Say something about yourself.
Mateusz...
My opinion is objective and professional.
- The boy is mentally disabled. - But you said...
You said it may turn out he...
You think he understands everything?
Give me an example.
He's excited w: Hen I prepare lunch.
He salivates, right?
Just like my dog w: Hen its bow: I is full.
And it w: Ags its tail.
What is it, sonny?
You'll never communicate. You can place him in a special home.
- What are you telling me? - The truth.
It's a vegetable.
I'll help you.
Mum, he doesn't w: Ant to.
A bit longer.
Try a bit more, sonny.
The doctor said he'd never w: Alk.
We'll see.
You started w: Alking very late.
A bit more.
You'll repeat the year at school.
- One's dumber than the other. - Don't say it to Mateusz.
He doesn't get it.
You're ashamed of himself too.
Why don't you take him for a w: Alk?
Ms Talarczyk asks if he's alive.
You promised to repair it.
Hi, sonny.
There you go.
What is it?
You've been drinking.
Shh...
Can I?
It's thirty-three past seven.
PROOF
Mateusz!
Your head is filled w: Ith w: Armth.
Your body is filled w: Ith w: Armth.
I'm giving you the force.
I w: On't come again.
No point in torturing him.
I'm begging you. He's been better since last time.
Look...
Money w: On't help here.
You have to accept it.
That's fine, sonny.
You'd like to say something?
Are you hungry?
Are you thirsty?
You w: Ant to say you love me?
If only I could understand you...
Now you know the worst truth.
When you're a vegetable, no one understands you.
When a real man has had enough or disagrees...
...he has to hit his fist on the table. Get it?
Go ahead!
Great!
Once again.
What are you teaching him?
Look at this man!
I was waltlng for the rlght moment to show them who I was.
I declded to learn and see what would happen.
Mum, come here, please.
What? Just a sec.
What is it, sonny?
What do you w: Ant?
Easy, easy.
Are you trying to stand up?
I'll help you.
Beautiful! Look!
He's so light now:
What did you w: Ant?
Nothing.
Darling!
One...
Tw: O...
And now:
Three. Thlrteen spoons a day. Nlnety-one a week.
Almost four hundred a month. Mlnus thlrty that I splt.
These were my maths classes.
That man was jjealous of hls wlfe.
When he was away, she met that man.
That couple llved together but never spoke.
Watchlng nelghbours was my soclal educatlon course.
Parcels from Germany were my geography classes.
It w: Ill last for a year.
Lovely smell!
Tomek, look!
These are for the boys.
Give him this one.
What is it?
It's for the fridge.
- How: Do you know:? - For w: Rapping food.
Our neighbour got it too.
What is it?
Dad taught me deslgn and technology.
Let it go.
The knife w: Ill break.
And never to glve up.
You can take it off now:
My favourlte class was anatomy.
Is Tuesday fine?
Tlts and stars are two God's greatest Inventlons.
The space travel is no longer a dream.
Years of tests taught us how: To make use of physics.
We've created reliable spacecrafts at the cutting-edge of technology.
Rocket science has reached...
I don't know:
Cinema? Fine.
- Why did you turn it off? - You think he understands it?
How: Do I look?
- You seen my silver brooch? - No!
Flnally, the rlght moment came.
Mum!
Sonny, w: Hat is it?
You may hurt yourself!
Mateusz, stop it!
Can't you help me?
Keep his head!
It's fine.
It's all right now:
It's all right.
WIZARD
Look! There's Jupiter.
The bright one is the Plough.
People think the stars are still.
But it's not true.
They move like mad all the time.
It's just us, dow: N below:, w: E think they are still.
I couldn't declde who Dad was.
[Skipped item nr. 146]
[Skipped item nr. 147]
Then, I thought he was a mechanlc.
Great.
Mum w: Ill sit dow: N for a bit.
He's heavier after all.
I'll fix a new: One. Don't w: Orry.
I even thought he was a crlmlnal.
He got Interrogated by our nelghbour, a cop.
He came home exhausted afterwards.
And drank gherkln water for hls hangover.
Put it there.
Ready? Hop on!
Engines on. Three, two, one.
Dad wasn't an astronomer, a mechanlc or a crlmlnal.
To me, he was a wlzard.
Go, go, go!
Where do you think you're going?
Hold it. It's sticky.
Place it here.
Hold it.
On June 4, the Poles voted in the first democratic elections...
...since the Second World War.
The campaign w: As heated.
Sorry!
62% of eligible voters w: Ent to the polls.
Even nuns w: Ere allow: Ed to vote.
Some people had never voted before.
Optimists notice the changes that w: Ere unlikely a few: Months ago.
The next election w: Ill be fully democratic.
See? We've succeeded.
I'll be back soon.
In 1989, Dad brought down Communlsm.
And now thlngs were to be better.
- Where are you going? - The city's all buzzing.
You promised to fix the lock.
Would you like to see the stars exploding tonight?
Would you like to?
Deal.
High five.
It's some crap.
See? It can't be fixed.
I need to buy a new: One.
But Dad is broke.
- Is that enough? - Not a chance.
Let me go, sonny.
Everything's fine.
Look after this. Dad w: Ill be back in no time.
I w: On't even take it.
What kind of father you got?
Come for supper.
Put it aw: Ay.
What are you doing? Let go!
Stop it! You may hurt yourself.
You'll hurt both of us.
Calm dow: N!
Didn't I promise you?
I wasn't afrald he'd get hurt.
Nothlng can hurt a man who made the stars explode.
Mum.
We have to go.
I was left wlth what he taught me.
Not to glve up.
And hls catchphrase: 'Everythlng's flne. '
In 1998, I met Anka.
Every nlght, her mum Invlted a dlfferent man...
... to help her fall asleep.
BOYFRIEND
Matylda dreamed of a husband. She went huntlng every day.
But people don't grow what they wlsh for.
Hi.
There's no one at home.
I've told you about my brother.
Hi. I'm Gosia.
All right, bro, get out.
They made worse nolses than I dld.
My brother made me reallse I mlssed out on lmportant thlngs.
Rosinski intercepts the ball.
He dribbles Maradona in the penalty area.
Will Rosinski score a goal?
Yes! Goal!
I'm Anka.
Hi, Anka. I'm Mateusz. You're a nice girl.
'Where did they draw: The treacle from? '
'You can draw: W: Ater out of a w: Ater-w: Ell... '
'... said the Hatter: So I should think... '
'... you could draw: Treacle out of a treacle-w: Ell - eh, stupid? '
'But they w: Ere IN the w: Ell... '
I flnally knew who I was: Someone's boyfrlend.
I saw our future home and klds crawllng on the floor wlth me.
You know what I mean?
I declded to klll hlm.
Sonny, w: Hat happened?
You w: Ant to sit by the w: Indow:?
Look w: Hat you've done to your old Mum.
You're a bad boy.
Your Mum know: S you smoke?
- Not your business. - Drop it.
Stop smiling!
Drop the fucking cig!
Why are you doing this?
Have I ever hurt you?
Oh, Mike Tyson!
Moron!
Calm dow: N!
What did you do to him?
Nothing.
- Documents! - No!
- Now:! - Go aw: Ay.
- Documents! - Fuck off!
It was a mlracle.
But not the one I expected.
Mateusz? It's me.
We're going to my grandma's.
Mum w: Ants to run aw: Ay before he gets out of jail.
EVERYTHING'S FINE
Take aim... and bang!
You get a three-day pass if you score three tens.
Listen.
To those w: Ho are at sea!
- My dear brother-in-law: - Here's to you.
Eat something or you'll get drunk.
Want a sandw: Ich?
- What do you eat on the ship? - Tinned food.
Thanks for the beads.
- Yummy. - Don't butter me up.
We'll change your single bed for a double one.
We have to be together now:
- And w: Hen I get back? - It w: Ill take a w: Hile.
- What about Mateusz? - We'll move him to my room.
To living in harmony!
Here's to you, kids.
You should think about Mateusz.
Meaning?
Who's going to lift him? You're getting old.
- Shut up. - Don't argue.
- Stay out of this. - Take him w: Ith you.
- To my ship? - Who w: Ill lift him?
Mum has a sick back. Adam w: Orks all day.
Don't argue. I can manage him.
He's the only one w: Ho's ever mattered to you.
I needed adventures and a change.
But I got the opposlte to what I was hoplng for. As usual.
Let me change your clothes.
You're so heavy.
I told myself: 'Everythlng's flne. '
'Everythlng's flne, everythlng's flne. '
SMILE
- Take a look. - Light as a feather.
- You got the signal? - Very w: Eak.
Maybe a sedative?
I was waltlng for Mum. I could tell her so much.
The wake-up call was at 6.30.
The bathroom was always occupled though my slster dldn't llve here.
I sometlmes thought they were at the sports camp.
Or on hollday.
They felt almost llke home.
Almost. Mum sewed for cllents, but they sewed for nobody.
Yet, love looks the same.
Death comes In the same way.
I dldn't llke It here.
I walted for Mum to leave hospltal and take me home.
Good morning.
You remember our neighbours, the policeman family?
They send their regards too.
Oh, sorry.
Easy.
My little finger.
Sonny, I have to catch the train.
I'll come by on Monday.
I like you.
But I don't llke you.
Grant us strength in suffering. God loves you, Leszek.
Grant us strength in suffering. God loves you, Marek.
Grant us strength in suffering. God loves you, Mateusz.
Thanks be to God.
What If he hated me?
Why so sad?
It's gonna be a lovely day. Life feels good.
I dldn't llke that wltch.
She fed me when I was on my back. I blt my llps then.
She had nelther tlts nor braln.
Hi.
I'm a new: Volunteer to feed you.
Another one who dldn't guess I should slt up.
I forgave her.
I came up wlth a ten-polnt scale.
My slster was the worst: One. It's better to be a vegetable.
Thls one was flve.
Four. Out of plty.
Elght.
What's up? Are you OK?
Elght and a half.
Tomek's sailing the ocean.
He sent a postcard.
From Borneo.
I think it's an island.
'Hi, Bro, I picked coconuts from a palm.'
'And ate crab meat, Tomek.'
I'm sorry, sonny.
I hated her.
Dad wouldn't have left me among those morons.
I'll come by on Monday.
That was how I got Into a boxlng team.
They flnally understood I hurt my llps.
So they trled to help me.
Mirka w: As to clean it. But no, she's busy eating cake.
She's like my Aunt Stefa. Too fat to pick up a banknote.
A spoon can dig you a grave.
Glad to see you. Follow: Me, please.
Here. See?
- It's an aquarium. - And below:?
Don't you see it's dirty?
You can't turn an old w: Oman into a girl.
The only thing I have to clean it is w: Ater.
Buy chemicals and I'll clean it.
Dad sald If a man had had enough, he had to hlt hls flst on the table.
Fuck!
Mateusz, I'm talking to you!
I smlled for the flrst tlme for many months.
Everyone wanted to talk to me. What a great feellng.
Everythlng's flne.
Leszek - retardation. Marek - hydrocephalus.
Mateusz - cerebral palsy.
Take a deep breath and you'll be fine. So?
75% of new: Volunteers quit after I take them here.
It's a test. So?
I thought: 'Maybe tlts aren't that lmportant? '
Have I grown up?
WORDS
A bit more.
Shall w: E eat together?
Your turn.
I play this piece w: Hen I'm sad.
I pretend I'm a ballerina.
He reacts w: Hen I talk to him. He understands me.
Why didn't you shave, man?
You playing the ball?
He reacts.
It doesn't mean he understands.
You don't need w: Ords. A look in the eye is enough.
Maybe.
Coffee?
Maybe not.
We grew a speclal bond.
We no longer spent tlme only In bed.
Chocolate flavour, your favourite.
Tomek sent a postcard.
From Mauritius.
'Am sitting under a palm, drinking a toast to you, Bro.'
Hello.
I'm Magda. I help w: Ith Mateusz.
Hi.
Today's his twenty-fifth birthday.
Sorry, I don't have a gift.
Will you join us for the cake?
I don't w: Ant to bother you.
Happy birthday.
Goodbye.
Would you agree that I take him for a w: Alk outside?
Would you like to, sonny?
I have a gift for you.
Sometlmes you want a moment to last forever.
It was such a moment.
Ahmed says in Polish: 'I be guide to Mount Sinai.'
'Our group name be Adam Malysz.'
The Russians w: Ere 'Putin'.
Good evening.
Hello everyone.
Can w: E join you?
Certainly.
Thank you.
This is my dad I told you about.
Hello.
And this is...
Wanda.
My stepmother.
This is Mateusz.
My fiance.
Happy birthday.
Thank you.
You remember about Mum's death anniversary?
He's adult.
Will you try on your ow: N?
Here's to you, Dad.
So every ten minutes w: E hear: 'Adam Malysz, come! '
It's the Bedouins w: Ho w: Ant to take us to Mount Sinai.
- For 150 dollars? - 170.
Let's sing for Dad, shall w: E?
Happy birthday to you...
Thank you, baby.
She's alw: Ays had original ideas.
Now: You don't approve of cripples?
- It's not that. - So w: Hat is it?
Your name's Mateusz?
I'm sorry for my daughter.
What about your next companion?
A homeless guy last year, him today, w: Ho's next?
Stop it.
- Magda? - Stop it.
- Let's talk... - Stop it.
Magda!
Wait a second.
What did you do to her?
You puked on her or w: Hat?
She quit.
Mateusz?
Happy birthday to you...
Casablanca.
It took it four months to get here.
Where's this Casablanca?
In some Arab country, I guess.
There are Arabic letters and a flag w: Ith a green star.
Matylda w: Ill come next time.
Her husband left her so she has to look after her kids.
Ms Talarczyk says hello. She w: As at hospital.
She's at home now:, recovering.
Her son's a policeman, like his father.
Mr Talarczyk lost four kilos. He w: As so w: Orried about his w: Ife.
Maybe he lost even more.
Everything w: Ill be fine.
I know:
HUMAN BEING
I like you.
Here are the symbols.
We w: Ill use them to communicate.
Bravo! You've blinked once.
This is a symbol for 'w: Arm'. I'll ask you if you are w: Arm.
You blink once and I'll open the w: Indow:
I'll ask you if you are tired.
You blink once and w: E'll stop. You blink twice and w: E'll go on.
'Warm'. Are you w: Arm?
What do w: E say?
You've blinked twice. Great! You're not w: Arm.
I w: Ill not open the w: Indow:
'Drink'. You w: Ant a drink?
You do? You've blinked once. I'll give you a drink.
I'm on my w: Ay to get a drink.
One day, Ms Jola came to our Centre.
I'll give you a drink because you blinked once.
So you said: 'I w: Ant a drink.'
Can you hold it?
Adela, see you soon.
See you soon!
Lie still.
Easy.
What's going on?
Calm dow:n.
They'll take care of you.
What is it?
What's up?
Easy!
Hold him!
Silence!
Relax.
Injection!
No, w: Ait!
You w: Ant to tell me something?
- We'll learn... - But he w: As tested.
Remember? You blink once for yes.
This symbol?
'Sister'. Sister?
Flnally, others wondered who I was.
Dad was rlght: Everythlng's flne.
That's the one?
What's in here? 'Brother'? Great!
That's how I became 'our Mateusz'.
Professor, this is our Mateusz.
He didn't communicate for 26 years.
Please, go ahead.
This symbol?
Mateusz! 'Goodbye'?
This column?
Yes.
This symbol?
'Not'.
- Easy. - Not too fast?
Yes, this page. Ask him.
This page, sonny?
This column?
This symbol?
It's 'I'.
You w: Ant to say 'I'?
So w: E have 'not' and 'I'.
- Let's go on. - Shall I turn the pages?
Go on.
- This one. - This page?
This column?
This symbol?
'Vegetable'.
Not I...
Not I vegetable?
Ask him.
You w: Ant to tell me you're not a vegetable?
What did they do to you?
Open your eyes.
- You like it? - Jola, w: Here shall I put it?
Mateusz?
- Here. - Mateusz, is it OK?
The reporter is here.
Hi, I'm Ew:a.
I'd like to w: Rite about your story.
Don't w: Orry.
I'll start w: Ith photos. May I?
'I may.'
It's simple to use.
Everything is here. You can find w: Hat interests you.
One click and you talk to the w: Orld.
To someone in the US.
Homecomlngs are pecullar.
Objjects look the same. Yet, somethlng doesn't flt.
You're the one who's changed.
'LIK E A BUTTERFLY'
So you've met your uncle.
Oh, you have a tattoo.
Take a look!
I'll make you one.
It was nlce to come back.
But It wasn't my home any longer.
Hello!
Could w: E talk?
- Something w: Rong w: Ith Mateusz? - Let's sit dow:n.
The head office read the article.
They say if he's normal, he shouldn't be here.
This is the Centre for Intellectually Disabled.
He isn't one.
They w: Ant to transfer Mateusz to a different centre.
They w: Ill interview: Him.
Take a look. It's a lovely home.
There's a park.
See this avenue?
There are no mountains, I know:
But look at this lake.
I know: It's far aw: Ay.
I'll come and visit you.
Good morning.
Go ahead, please.
Say something about yourself.
This page?
This one?
Tell us w: Hat day is today.
Thank you, that's all.
He's a moron.
Let's go, that's enough.
Today Is 11th August, 10.30 p.m.
The sky Is clear wlth a new moon rlslng.
Mercury and Venus are brlght.
It wlll be a lovely day tomorrow.
Mateusz didn't move out.
He still lives in the Centre for Intellectually Disabled.
LIFE FEELS GOOD
In memory of Ew: A Pieta (23 July 1968 - 23 Oct 2006)
Cast
English subtitles by Magdalena Cedro