Slon

A gentle drama from Poland.

Now, the motive of a farm boy, stuck with the burden of hard work and family obligation, discovering himself by another boy from the outside world is not unique. There are several shorts and features from US, but from more recent and better known examples, 'God's Own Country' comes to my mind.

And comparing to the UK effort, I cannot but point out 2 main weaknesses from 'Slon'. First is the believability of the main character. Bartek doesn't really look like a boy who was born and grew up on a farm his whole life. Tall, slender, smooth and pale skined, he has distinctive urban vibe to my eyes. Also there are some hint of supposedly hard daily work on the farm, but it doesn't really deliver the dirty gritty raw sense of a real farm work, especially shadowed by the 'glamorous' aspect of horse riding. I think the hardship of running a farm all by himself is an important element of the character's situation, and failing to deliver it does affect the credibility.

Second is the lack of intense interaction between the 2 male leads. I don't think their relationship and interaction developed enough beyond the 'new boy's always sexier' rule and the convenience of the 'only 2 gays' in the village. For the relationship to truly unravel and grow Bartek out of his bubble, the relationship had to be more 3 dimensional and thicker.

'Slon' is an OK film. It is watchable and offers an interesting insight to the Polish rural life. But unfortunately it's not exactly memorable.