A powerful and compelling doc that plays like a drama feature at times, No Hero At All is a striking real-life story of a young disabled Polish man with a petty criminal past who is also a promising alpine skier potentially good enough to make the Paralympics.
With prosthetic legs from the knees down and no hands Michał is a pragmatic and taciturn individual, used to having to make his own way in life. His failure to pass his maths exam and reluctance both to exercise and to eat properly has impacted on his skiing, plus he is under probation for having stolen scooters in the past.
Caught between pressures to raise money; keep his grandmother off the cigarettes; keep his ski coach happy and re-take a maths exam, Michał Chrobak – or Mishka as he is known – simply gets on with his life. He has clearly grown up having to cope for himself, and despite his disabilities lets little stand in his way.
His grumpy grandmother disapproves of his girlfriend Kaja (who also has disabilities), and so he decides not to tell her in advance when they head off for a fishing trip in the countryside – which involves multiple train and bus connections and scenes of frustration as he tries to fix the bait on his fishing line.
He has little to do with his parents – his jail bird mother calls asking for money and his father shows no interest in supporting him – and he supplements his benefits by cleaning trains. His ski coach Lukasz (a doughty character who loves nothing more than a swim in freezing cold rivers) convinces him to try and cut the junk food and exercise. Cue footage of Mishka struggling on exercise machines and collapsing on a running treadmill.
He is at that point when he needs to make decisions about his future. He is given a last chance to try and make the Paralympic team (but as his coach says, “he has got to shed the belly”) and takes a job at a telesales operation. Things take a strange turn when he agrees to pick up his mother when she is released from prison, but despite her promises their relationship soon stalls.
He takes part in a ski competition in his attempt to qualify for the Paralympics (no spoilers), and in the process must put up with some brutal criticism. It might appear the film is heading towards a downbeat ending, but ironically it is clear that Mishka, despite the pressures from all around, prefers to chart his own journey – scenes shot two months later see him in a new job, with a new girlfriend and (perhaps for the first time in the film) with a smile on his face.
Poland, 2021, 75mins
Dir/scr Michał Kawecki
Producers Maria Siniarska, Łukasz Borzęcki
Production Unlimited Film Operations
Cinematography Michał Kawecki
Editor Hubert Pusek
Music Arkadiusz Glensk
With Michał Chrobak
