Greetings again from the darkness. For lonely folks, the dream of companionship is ever-present. Wondering if the right person will ever come along is a weighty burden to carry, and it's one that Julka has toted her entire life. Writer-director Tadeusz Lysiak and lead actor Anna Dieduszycka only need 29 minutes in this short film to convey the hope and pain that accompanies loneliness.
Ms. Dieduszycka gives a strong performance, and her dwarfism comes into play as Julka, a cleaning lady at a truck stop motel. Julka rarely smiles and only speaks when her co-worker and lone friend Renata (Dorota Pomykala) talks to her. Otherwise Julka is all about smoking and slot machines ... at least while she's not fantasizing about being "normal" and having true romance that leads to the loss of her virginity.
A truck driver named Bogdan (Szymon Piotr Warszawski) shows some legitimate interest in getting to know her better, and Julka's excitement mirrors that of a schoolgirl. Filmmaker Lysiak places Julka in a situation that seems to be her ideal romantic encounter - a sure sign that life rarely allows these moments to play out as we hope, which ironically, provides her with a taste of the downside of normalcy. The film is from Poland, and it earned the honor of being Oscar nominated.
