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RETURN TO Ewa Kruk From the Other Side

This film portrait of middle-aged, blind interpreter, Marian, explores his perceptions of living with disability. Kruk opens with his hand checking the time on a wristwatch. Before we first see his face with dark shades on, we are offered another shot of his fingers dialling a telephone number. His voice comes off the screen. We learn that he grew up in a home for the blind in Laski near Warsaw to later enter the life in the city where to earn his living he qualified as an interpreter.

From the Other Side

  • Z tamtej strony
  • 1970
  • dir. Ewa Kruk
  • 12 min

This film portrait of middle-aged, blind interpreter, Marian, explores his perceptions of living with disability. Kruk opens with his hand checking the time on a wristwatch. Before we first see his face with dark shades on, we are offered another shot of his fingers dialling a telephone number. His voice comes off the screen. We learn that he grew up in a home for the blind in Laski near Warsaw to later enter the life in the city where to earn his living he qualified as an interpreter.

In the next scene, Kruk’s camera observes Marian using his white stick, as he walks the city streets. A tapping sound accompanies each of his steps. His voice again plays off the screen here, informing the viewers how hard it is for him to imagine space and the distance from different objects.

Later, the camera accompanies Marian to a studio, where he works as an English translator. His assistant reads out written texts and he records his words on tapes. Afterwards, he goes ice-skating with his female friend and attends a house party, where we witness him discussing music from the perspective of a person who isn’t able to see.

To make him appear as a social player and someone who does his best to fit in, Kruk often presents Marian in the company of people. Though his off-screen narration emphasises feelings of isolation.

When we see Marian for the last time in Nowy Świat—one of the main streets in Warsaw—he seems to be an integral part of the street crowd. Although he confidently moves alongside other pedestrians, again here he highlights that his disability forms a serious social barrier which deep inside makes him feel lonely. It is only the voices he hears that ‘tell him that there are people around him’.

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