From the series of Andrzej Wajda student films, this cute short film presents a mother telling to her child asleep all about the events that happens when she's sleeping.
From the mechanics fixing the trams of the public transportation checking the engines and oil; the pharmacist who attends a customer in pain in the middle of the night; to
firefighters on full alert just in case of fire and the bakers spending the whole dawn preparing bread for the morning. It shows this invisible universe of a major city where
while a majority sleeps but there are still people who stay awake to work and keep things going either because there's a need for such work and others who need to make things
ready for the next day. Basically, it's an odd to night workers.
"While You're Asleep" or "Whenever You Were Sleeping" (depends on the version you find) is taken from the poems of Tadeusz Kubiak and Wajda makes a nice presentation of things.
Except for one fact: the kid appears sleeping on her bed so she doesn't hear the things her mother is describing to her. It doesn't make sense not having the kid asking her mom
about what happens in the outside world when she's not around, so basically the woman in talking to herself in a poetical way. Unusual and distracting when you think about the
film's main idea with such title.
Apart from this little problem, the movie has its charm and great appeal and Wajda images are amazingly well-captured in a very natural style, almost like a documentary.
Very good. 7/10.
