Tricks

Although this sweet-natured Polish film is realist on the surface, director Andrzej Jakimowski is as interested in the workings of a child’s imagination as in truth. Unfolding on location in a small town and mostly on its streets, ‘Tricks’ follows six-year-old Stefek (Damian Ul) and, to a lesser extent, his 18-year-old sister, Elka (Ewelina Walendziak), over one summer. While Elka spends time with her boyfriend or trying to persuade a slick international company to give her a job, Stefek tries to influence destiny with his mind, whether helping a trader sell apples or forcing a man who changes trains at the local station to spend more time in town because he might be his estranged father…

Bathed in summer light, ‘Tricks’ offers a warm portrait of childhood and attributes unusual intelligence and emotional instincts to its subjects. The direction and photography, both calm and observational, soak up Stefek and Elka’s surroundings while staying close to the siblings: in fact, how near we get to anyone depends entirely on how close, physically and emotionally, Stefek is to them. It’s a subtle film that gradually lets you into its world.