A Discussion with Monika Jordan-Młodzianowska and Łukasz Simlat about the difficulties we meet in interpersonal relations
The meeting with Monika Jordan-Młodzianowska, the director behind Żelazny most / The Iron Bridge, and Łukasz Simlat, the leading actor in the film, was filled with time-consuming debates as to the essence of the film, its real meaning, and the personal level of interpreting the feelings manifested by the protagonists, but also focused on joint looking for answers to the questions evoked in the minds of viewers after the screening.
The Iron Bridge is a story about three friends. Oskar is a miner, and he and his wife Magda have befriended Kacper, Oskar's direct supervisor at the mine. As time goes by, Kacper starts flirting with Oskar's wife. To be able to have secret meetings with the woman he is so fond of, he sends Oskar to the most remote and challenging sections of the mine. During one such secret rendezvous between the two lovers, there is a rock bump in the mine leaving Oskar cut off inside a collapsed tunnel. Magda and Kacper need to start working together to save Oskar. The film director offered some clarification regarding this synopsis of the plot in the film, by saying the following during the meeting: The second we feel we have reached hell, we simply start seeing its further sub-levels.
The audience participating in the meeting were particularly interested to hear more about the reality of mining portrayed in the film, and the method used by the director to gather information about it. Monika Jordan-Młodzianowska revealed that she was inspired by a story from a few years back, when two miners got trapped under the ground. She managed to work with the people who carried out a rescue mission back then, which helped her put the whole story in a more realistic context. Łukasz Simlat and Bartłomiej Topa, two leading actors in the film, accompanied the miners down the mine to see them at work. Łukasz Simlat, who attended the meeting, confessed that it turned out to be a tough experience for him, as he is suffering from claustrophobia.
Many of the questions and reflections communicated by the audience referred to the way they received the film. One of the women from the audience claimed that she saw the film as a message about feeling guilty. The film director confirmed that it was her intention to leave viewers with certain personal reflections, after watching the film. She seems to have succeeded by taking a closer look at the difficulties of interpersonal relations. One needs to give a lot of credit to actors for such good reception of the film. Łukasz Simlat gave a little insight into the process of building is character in the film. He said that it is never enough to simply read the script, as one needs to look for the things that are not written there, and ponder on the invisible background behind the occurring events. He admitted he likes playing in psychological films, referring to the film Fuga which is also screened as part of the Tofifest IFF.
The audience was also very appreciating of the skilful portrayal of the parallel world in the film. One of the people present in the auditorium said that she was watching a parallel film in her head, while watching The Iron Bridge. She added that the sound in the film painted a whole new parallel world, a new story we do not see in the film with our own eyes, because it is not told with images.
Both the artists and the audience helped each other out in this analysis of the course of events in the film, the behaviour of the protagonists, and their intentions and motives, which provided an opportunity to broaden the perspective of seeing the film. The meeting helped satisfy the curiosity of the audience, but also led to even more questions.
Aleksandra Boniecka
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