Paweł Mandziewski

Based on a script by Andrzej Żuławski, this is a fascinating on-screen dialogue between father and son that combines nostalgia and fury, the sublime with humor, and old-school style with a sharp, penetrating look at Polish reality. The eponymous bird talk is the language used by those excluded from the aggressive majority: a history teacher tormented by children, a teacher of Polish studies fired from his job, a girl who cleans a banker’s villa, a florist with a club foot and a student with a fascination for cinema. Pushed to the margins by the extreme right, they defend themselves with irony, songs and quotes from the classics.

A young entrepreneur, Slawomir Sikora, persecuted by a ruthless bandit, commits murders in defense of his loved ones. Sentenced to 25 years in prison, he ends up behind bars, where he has to fight for survival in the environment of recidivists sentenced for the most serious crimes. Deprived of hope for justice, isolated from those he loves, he must find the strength to survive and remain himself. Each day here is a fight to preserve dignity and humanity. It is a game for life, played according to extremely brutal rules. Sikora takes up this fight and cannot be broken. He learns to gain allies and friends, earn respect and maneuver between prison subcultures. Thanks to the friendship with a fugitive from the Foreign Legion convicted of murder and the help of a human rights activist, Sikora manages to believe that not everything is lost for him yet. But key decisions are made far beyond the walls.

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