A young Jewish boy somewhere in Eastern Europe seeks refuge during World War II where he encounters many different characters.
The Painted Bird is a deeply dramatic story examining the immediate relationship between terror and cruelty on one side and innocence and love on the other. Although the novel itself has been perceived as highly controversial since its publication in 1965, it has won global recognition and several prestigious literary awards. It is the first and the most celebrated novel by the author of the novels Being There and Pinball - one of the most significant and striking writers of the last century, Jerzy Kosinski.—nabarveneptace.cz
Nearing the end of World War II, somewhere in a small hamlet of battle-scarred Eastern Europe, a Jewish pre-teen boy embarks on a dangerous journey to reunite with his parents. Left all alone to fend for himself, the boy meanders through the hostile uncharted territories of the poverty-stricken, prejudice-filled, and superstition-addled countryside, where evil is everywhere, and the lambs coexist with the wolves. But, somehow, the war child must summon up the courage to survive enslavement, torture, abuse, and a seemingly endless set of increasingly horrible ordeals, as both Adolf Hitler's Nazis and Joseph Stalin's Red Army soldiers roam the region. The boy's world is a bleak, nightmarish place for children and adults alike. Is hope alone enough to persevere?—Nick Riganas
SYNOPSIS
Based on the acclaimed Jerzy Kozinski novel, THE PAINTED BIRD is a meticulous 35mm black and white evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II.
The film follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies and the Boy is on his own, wandering through the country-side, from village to village, farmhouse to farmhouse. As he struggles for survival, The Boy suffers through extraordinary brutality meted out by the ignorant, superstitious peasants and he witnesses the terrifying violence of the efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.
In a defining scene, one of the peasants shows The Boy the flight of a captive bird, whom the man has painted and then released back into its own flock. The bird is immediately ripped apart because it is different from its fellows. That lesson reinforces all The Boy already knows and will soon know better: difference is fatal.
But there are rare moments of compassion: a German soldier spares The Boy, a priest intervenes on his behalf, and finally The Boy becomes the protégé of a Russian sniper, who is kind to the child, but ruthless with the enemy.
And there are signs of love. The Boy is seduced by an older girl, finally re-discovering the comfort of intimacy, only to realize that he has been used.
When he is miraculously reunited with his weakened father at the end of the war, The Boy is cold and impenetrable, hardened by his ordeal. Yet we can still glimpse something of the old, sensitive Boy behind the eyes of the new. Perhaps there is hope.
SHORT SYNOPSIS
Based on the acclaimed Jerzy Kozinski novel, THE PAINTED BIRD is a meticulous 35mm black and white evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II.
The film follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies and the Boy is on his own, wandering through the country-side, from village to farmhouse. As he struggles for survival, The Boy suffers through extraordinary brutality meted out by the ignorant, superstitious peasants and he witnesses the terrifying violence of the efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.
When the war ends, The Boy has been changed, forever.
