Breaking the limits
A story inspired by the life of Jerzy Górski, who after recuperating from a 14 year drug addiction established a world record in the World Triathlon Championships. He won in the incredibly demanding category of Double Ironman. His life story remained completely unknown in Poland prior to the premiere of Palkowski’s film. “Breaking the Limits” opens like a classic bio picture, depicting the childhood and adolescence of the protagonist and his first teenage initiations in the backdrop of 1970s Poland. Jakub Gierszał works on his role through expressive acting, showing the utter hell of addiction and the agonizing state of drug withdrawal. With the aid of people he met on his journey, this survivor turns into a sportsman. In 1984 he signs into the rehab clinic MONAR, where he falls in love, and trains with coach Antoni Niemczak, reaching his peak form after 6 years of preparations. It’s a touching story of ups and downs, and, despite a predictable ending, gripping to its last minutes.
About the director:
Łukasz Palkowski is a Polish director and screenplay writer born in 1976. He made his mark in film in 2007 while, still unestablished, he captured the hearts of festival audiences with a low-budget, but intriguing film about the inhabitants of an old tenement building in the Warsaw district Praga. The second success, also a commercial one, for the young director, was the film “Gods”, hugely awarded at numerous Polish film festivals. In his films, Palkowski is brutally honest in the characters he creates, neither idealising nor crushing them. Instead, they are piercingly human, an undeniable insight into man. Palkowski also directed popular Polish series, including “Belfer”, “Pułapka”, “Diagnoza”.
Most important movies:
- 2007 „Rezerwat”
- 2011 „Wojna żeńsko-męska”
- 2014 “Gods”
- 2017 „Breaking the limits”
Author: Mikołaj Góralik
Translation to English: Katarzyna Matej
