300 Miles To Heaven
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''300 Miles to Heaven'' (Polish: ''300 mil do nieba'') is a 1989 Polish
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Maciej Dejczer Maciej Dejczer is a Polish film director, best known for his film ''300 Miles to Heaven'' (1989), which won the second European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year. He is an alumnus of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice. ...
. It is based on the true story of the Zieliński brothers, two teenagers who escaped from
Communist Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
in 1985. The film received the European Film Award in 1989.


Plot synopsis

In a working-class village near
Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...
, Poland, the Kwiatkowski family live in poverty. The two oldest sons, sixth-grader Andrzej "Jędrek" Kwiatkowski and first-grader Grzegorz "Grześ" Kwiatkowski dream of escaping to the West in pursuit of better living conditions and opportunities, as well as to financially aid their dissident parents. Grześ wishes to escape to
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
in the United States to pursue a music career. The boys' dream is also shared by Jędrek's classmate, Elka, who often lives alone due to her father's alcoholism and repeated incarceration. One night, the three children act on their escape plan by hiding underneath a freight truck. However, the plan goes awry and only Grześ is able to hide in the trailer on time before the truck takes off. Elka steals a nearby motorcycle and she and Jędrek give chase before crashing into a ditch. Elka is injured and taken to a hospital, guarded by a policeman who is searching for Jędrek. The boy sneaks into the hospital and helps Elka to escape, but her injuries slow her down and she encourages Jędrek to leave without her. Jędrek promises to come back for her as he runs in the direction of where the truck had travelled. The freight truck stops beside a highway and Grześ remains in the trailer. Jędrek is arrested during his pursuit and placed in the back of a police car; the driving policemen look for the truck in which Grześ escaped in. The policemen find the vehicle and do not notice Jędrek sneaking out of the car and reuniting with his brother. The boys spend the next couple of days uncomfortably hiding in the trailer as the truck drives through mud and rain. The truck soon ends up on a ferry and Grześ complains of hunger and thirst; Jędrek finds cans of beer in an unlocked van parked nearby. The brothers later wake up at a gas station in a foreign country. After going to the bathroom, the truck drives away, leaving them stranded. They sleep at a railway station where two police officers wake them up and ask what they are doing; with his limited English, Jędrek is able to establish that he and his brother are in Denmark. The officers place them in a refugee camp as the boys wish to apply for asylum. The brothers' case makes international news and they are befriended by a Polish journalist who had similarly left Poland some time before. Back home, the boys' mother and father lose their parental rights after being declared as "incapable of taking care of their children". On their own with little support, Jędrek and Grześ unsuccessfully look for work. Later, they receive a government allowance; the boys send some of the money to their parents. On Christmas Day, the journalist arranges a telephone call between the boys and their parents. They assure each other of their well-being and tearfully express their love for each other. Jędrek asks about Elka, to which his mother informs him that she has been sent to a
reformatory A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concerns ...
. When Jędrek asks if the brothers should stay in Denmark or go back home to Poland, their father encourages them to stay, shouting "Don't ever come back! Do you hear me?" The film concludes with the brothers sitting mournfully at a public fountain, uncertain of their future in Denmark.


Cast

*
Wojciech Klata Wojciech Klata (born 27 January 1976) is a Polish actor. He starred in the opening episode of the '' Dekalog'' series directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. He has appeared in nearly 20 films and television shows since 1988. In 1993, he played the r ...
– Grześ * Rafal Zimowski – Jędrek * Kama Kowalewska – Elka *
Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak (born 15 February 1951) is a Polish film actress. She has appeared in 33 films since 1972. She won the award for Best Actress at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film '' Another Way''. On 4 December ...
– The Mother * Andrzej Mellin – The Father *
Adrianna Biedrzyńska Adrianna Biedrzyńska (born 30 March 1962, in Toruń, Poland) is a Polish actress. She performed in more than thirty films since 1983. She is best known for her performance as Anka in Decalogue IV. She works well in both dramatic and comedy ro ...
– Journalist *Kama Kowalewska – Elka *Aleksander Bednarz – Teacher *Krzysztof Stroiński – Zdzisio, Elka's Father


External links

*
Review on filmweb.pl The New York Times overview
{{European Film Award for Discovery of the Year 1989 films 1989 crime drama films Polish drama films Danish drama films French drama films 1980s Polish-language films Films about communism European Film Awards winners (films) Films scored by Michał Lorenc 1980s French films