Tramway Film Studio
Silesia Film Institute
Telewizja Polska (TVP)
MONTERNIA. PL
The Polish Film Institute
present a film by Maciej Pieprzyca
LIFE FEELS GOOD
The film was 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 when I prepare lunch.
He salivates, right?
Just like my dog when its bowI is full.
And it wags 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 want to.
A bit longer.
Try a bit more, sonny.
The doctor said he'd never walk.
We'll see.
You started walking 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 walk?
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 with warmth.
Your body is filled with warmth.
I'm giving you the force.
I won't come again.
No point in torturing him.
I'm begging you. He's been better since last time.
Look...
Money won'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 want 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 want?
Easy, easy.
Are you trying to stand up?
I'll help you.
Beautiful! Look!
He's so light now.
What did you want?
Nothing.
Darling!
One...
Two...
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 will 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 wrapping food.
Our neighbour got it too.
What is it?
Dad taught me deslgn and technology.
Let it go.
The knife will 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, what 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, dowm below, we 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 will sit down for a bit.
He's heavier after all.
I'll fix a new one. Don't worry.
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 was heated.
Sorry!
62% of eligible voters went to the polls.
Even nuns were allowed to vote.
Some people had never voted before.
Optimists notice the changes that were unlikely a few months ago.
The next election will 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 will be back in no time.
I won't even take it.
What kind of father you got?
Come for supper.
Put it away.
What are you doing? Let go!
Stop it! You may hurt yourself.
You'll hurt both of us.
Calm down!
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 water out of a water - well... '
'... said the Hatter: So I should think... '
'... you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well - eh, stupid? '
'But they were in the well... '
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, what happened?
You want to sit by the window?
Look what you've done to your old mum.
You're a bad boy.
Your mum knows 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 down!
What did you do to him?
Nothing.
- Documents! - No!
- Now! - Go away.
- 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 wants to run away 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 who are at sea!
- My dear brother-in-law. - Here's to you.
Eat something or you'll get drunk.
Want a sandwich?
- 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 when I get back? - It will take a while.
- 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 with you.
- To my ship? - Who will lift him?
Mum has a sick back. Adam works all day.
Don't argue. I can manage him.
He's the only one who'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 weak.
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 was 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 woman into a girl.
The only thing I have to clean it is water.
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 we eat together?
Your turn.
I play this piece when I'm sad.
I pretend I'm a ballerina.
He reacts when 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 words. 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 with 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 want to bother you.
Happy birthday.
Goodbye.
Would you agree that I take him for a walk 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 were 'Putin'.
Good evening.
Hello everyone.
Can we 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 own?
Here's to you, Dad.
So every ten minutes we hear: 'Adam Malysz, come! '
It's the Bedouins who want to take us to Mount Sinai.
- For 150 dollars? - 170.
Let's sing for dad, shall we?
Happy birthday to you...
Thank you, baby.
She's always had original ideas.
Now you don't approve of cripples?
- It's not that. - So what is it?
Your name's Mateusz?
I'm sorry for my daughter.
What about your next companion?
A homeless guy last year, him today, who'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 what?
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 with a green star.
Matylda will come next time.
Her husband left her so she has to look after her kids.
Ms Talarczyk says hello. She was at hospital.
She's at home now, recovering.
Her son's a policeman, like his father.
Mr Talarczyk lost four kilos. He was so worried about his wife.
Maybe he lost even more.
Everything will be fine.
I know.
HUMAN BEING
I like you.
Here are the symbols.
We will use them to communicate.
Bravo! You've blinked once.
This is a symbol for 'warm'. I'll ask you if you are warm.
You blink once and I'll open the window.
I'll ask you if you are tired.
You blink once and we'll stop. You blink twice and we'll go on.
'Warm'. Are you warm?
What do we say?
You've blinked twice. Great! You're not warm.
I will not open the window.
'Drink'. You want a drink?
You do? You've blinked once. I'll give you a drink.
I'm on my way 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 want a drink.'
Can you hold it?
Adela, see you soon.
See you soon!
Lie still.
Easy.
What's going on?
Calm down.
They'll take care of you.
What is it?
What's up?
Easy!
Hold him!
Silence!
Relax.
Injection!
No, wait!
You want to tell me something?
- We'll learn... - But he was 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 want to say 'I'?
So we 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 want to tell me you're not a vegetable?
What did they do to you?
Open your eyes.
- You like it? - Jola, where shall I put it?
Mateusz?
- Here. - Mateusz, is it OK?
The reporter is here.
Hi, I'm Ewa.
I'd like to write about your story.
Don't worry.
I'll start with photos. May I?
'I may.'
It's simple to use.
Everything is here. You can find what interests you.
One click and you talk to the world.
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 we talk?
- Something wrong with Mateusz? - Let's sit down.
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 want to transfer Mateusz to a different centre.
They will 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 away.
I'll come and visit you.
Good morning.
Go ahead, please.
Say something about yourself.
This page?
This one?
Tell us what 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 Ewa Pieta (23 July 1968 - 23 Oct 2006)
Cast
English subtitles by Magdalena Cedro