Elephant main backdrop
Elephant main poster

6.8/10 • 9

2023-05-111h 34m

Drama

Bartek lives in a village in the Podhale region, where he runs a small farm and takes care of his lonely and possessive mother. One day he meets Dawid, a slightly older man who comes to visit his family after many years of absence. Affection quickly develops between the two, followed by desire that Bartek suppressed for years.

Directors
Kamil Krawczycki
Writters
Kamil Krawczycki
Editors
Kamil Krawczycki, Agnieszka Białek

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Jan Hrynkiewicz

    Jan Hrynkiewicz

    Bartek

  2. Paweł Tomaszewski

    Paweł Tomaszewski

    Dawid

  3. Ewa Skibińska

    Ewa Skibińska

    Bartek's mother

  4. Ewa Kolasińska-Szramel

    Ewa Kolasińska-Szramel

    Danuta

  5. Wiktoria Filus

    Wiktoria Filus

    Daria

  6. Michał Pawlik

    Michał Pawlik

    Marcin

  7. Maciej Kosiacki

    Maciej Kosiacki

    Daniel

  8. Halina Jabłonowska

    Halina Jabłonowska

    Janina

  9. Boguslaw Repelewicz

    Boguslaw Repelewicz

    Pawel

Reviews1

View Reviews
CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Oct 22, 2023

7/10

"Bartek" (Jan Hrynkiewicz) is a young lad, pretty stretched, living with his slightly over-bearing mother (Ewa Skibinska) on their struggling farm. His life is pretty mundane until the arrival of "Dawid" (Pawel Tomaszewski). He has returned home after the death of his estranged father, and "Bartek" agrees to meet him at the station. That's their first meeting, but gradually we are exposed to their increasing affection for each other. Each seems to offer the other a sense of hope, of the possibility of escape from the drudgery of a rural Polish existence that is rife with religious intolerance and bigotry - examples of which are soon demonstrated clearly as people around their village begin to realise the boys are not just friends. Director Kamil Krawczycki builds a gentle love story here without straying into cheesy sentimentality. The rather potent foil offered by Skibinska works well as a temper to the boy's own, frequently quite messy, story and also illustrates well the values of family loyalty - even if it might not be her own preferred scenario. Though perhaps a little predictable, it's a well constructed drama with three engaging performances that are well supported by Viktoria Filus's "Daria" as we conclude in a way that I could only describe as, rather sadly, all too realistically. It serves to remind those of us living in Western Europe in 2023 that acceptance of same sex relationships is by no means a universal fact across our part of this continent and is worth ninety minutes of your time just to remind us of what not to take for granted.

Media

  • Elephant poster
  • Elephant poster
  • Elephant poster

Recommendations

  • The Strong Ones main backdrop

    The Strong Ones

    7.6

  • A Far Shore main backdrop

    A Far Shore

    8.0

  • The Father main backdrop

    The Father

    8.1

  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse main backdrop

    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

    8.4

  • Joker main backdrop

    Joker

    8.1

  • Inception main backdrop

    Inception

    8.4

  • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga main backdrop

    Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

    7.5

  • Parasite main backdrop

    Parasite

    8.5

  • Oppenheimer main backdrop

    Oppenheimer

    8.1

  • Green Book main backdrop

    Green Book

    8.2

  • Captain Marvel main backdrop

    Captain Marvel

    6.8

  • Fight Club main backdrop

    Fight Club

    8.4

  • Spider-Man: No Way Home main backdrop

    Spider-Man: No Way Home

    8.0

  • Ex Machina main backdrop

    Ex Machina

    7.6

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring main backdrop

    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    8.4

  • Avengers: Endgame main backdrop

    Avengers: Endgame

    8.2

  • Gone Girl main backdrop

    Gone Girl

    7.9

  • Schindler's List main backdrop

    Schindler's List

    8.6

  • Inside Out main backdrop

    Inside Out

    7.9

  • The Green Mile main backdrop

    The Green Mile

    8.5

Status
Released
Original Language
Polish
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
romancelgbtmother son relationshipgay theme