ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ANSWERS – THE REVIEW OF THE FILM "MONK OF THE SEA"
The film "Monk of the Sea" has already made its début at Krakow Film Festival. The next screening will be held on June 3 in the cinema Kijów.Centrum. We would like to invite you to read the review of the documentary film.
Conversations, confessions or even a short exchange of views - there are so few of them in this film. On the one hand, I regretted that there is so few of them, on the other hand, thanks to this I could feel that the story has its own rhythm. The director and the main protagonist submitted themselves to the chain of events. Rafał Skalski decided to remain an observer, and Ball, the main protagonist, allowed to be observed.
From the information which appears at the end of the film, we learn that "70% of the Thai are ordained to be temporary monks." "Monk of the Sea" tells the story of one of them, Ball, who decides to take this step when he is thirty years old. Of his own free will, he becomes a monk for 15 days. During this time, he commits himself to give up all kinds of stimulants, sex, dancing and singing. Therefore, Ball goes for two weeks to the sea, where he will devote himself to prayer, he will fast, meditate and think about his life.
The beginning of the film tells us a bit about the protagonist. We find out that we are dealing with a man who is still a boy. Ball works as a car salesman, but - as he himself confesses - almost every night he has a party and gets drunk with his friends. At home, he spends his time watching television or browsing Facebook. Perhaps, by going to the temple, Ball admits to himself that he has to work on oneself. So he leaves for 15 days, which from the beginning seem an eternity to him. How Skalski showed them?
The director concentrated on observing the protagonist, looking into his eyes and listening to what he hears. What do we listen to? We listen to the murmur of the sea, to the sounds of planks bending under the weight of the feet, sometimes to the words of a 47-year-old monk, Ball's mentor. Such a dedication to meditation makes weary, calls for words, for noise. At times, the protagonist escapes into the world of Facebook and it is no wonder why. However, there is an important message hidden in this silence, and Skalski manages to get this message across: it is an appeal to us that we stop even for a moment, sit on the porch or on a bench in a park, or go for a walk and think in which direction we are heading.
Agnieszka Młynarczyk