Anything can happen by Marcel Lozinski

What does a little boy do in a park? He runs around wildly, chasing butterflies. And what do old people do in a park? They sit on a bench, enjoy the sunshine if there is any to be had, and have a chat if there is any to be had. Marcel Lozinski cleverly decided to bring these age groups together in the award-winning, Oscar-nominated Anything can Happen (Wszyztko moze sie przytrafic, 1995).

The Polish director films his son Tomek, just turned six, as he prances around a park on a glorious spring day; speeding along on his scooter, gazing at the squirrels and the sparrows he feeds in innocent wonder, and generally being charmingly exuberant. In this park, various elderly people are doing their own thing on the benches, in couples or alone. As children do, little Tomek engages them in conversation, asking them candid questions such as: “How old are you? Will you still be alive when I’m your age?”

Marcel Lozinski had been the most promising documentary maker of his generation, but after decades of dealing with censorship, he had more or less given up. It was only after the regime change that he became inspired again. This film, said to epitomize his movement towards a more ‘existential phase’, gained him the recognition he enjoys today. And existential it is. One can only wonder how many hours of mindless chat were thrown out, or how carefully Lozinski, who is known for his staged scenes, prepped his son. But the conversations between the boy and the elderly folks are of immense depth, mainly covering the essential topics of life, love, death and growing up. Yet, these issues are discussed with great clarity and simplicity, as you do when talking to a child, and above all honesty: this doesn’t become as sickly sweet as a greetings card because, well, life isn’t like that.

In fact, life is best when you are little, as one old lady tells Tomek. An old man gives a history lecture in his own personal way: “What we went through, I wouldn’t want you to experience that. You should have a better life.” But Tomek feels sure that these people’s lives aren’t over yet. Anything can happen in life. You can live to a previously unheard of age. You can even meet a baby dinosaur. The old people also know that anything can happen. You can grow up wanting to be a farmer, but end up a janitor. In the future Tomek too can get divorced and end up on the streets, just like the woman who has left an alcoholic husband. Tomek doesn’t realize this yet; he doesn’t think further ahead than the possibility of his own parents getting separated. Thus we see life’s journey symbolized in these dialogues. Tomek is the carefree, blank slate of youth. He has his whole life ahead of him. Yes, anything can happen, it doesn’t matter, for as you grow older, you grow more accepting of life. “I’m just very glad I can walk”, says the man with swollen legs. “I’m alone, but not sad” says a woman. This is the achievement of old age. In the last shot, Tomek joyfully rides his scooter away from the viewer. As we see him from the back, setting off into the future, a peacock crosses the road – a symbol for the mortality of man. Vanitas vanitatum.

Rebecca Wilson