Iska’s Journey
Hungary, 2007, 94 minutes

A journey. For me personally, a journey has a destination in sight, or at least I envision one anyway. After watching Iska’s Journey, I felt as though I made every attempt to hop on board for this journey and I didn’t quite make it to the end — nowhere even close. Actually, I felt like I dropped off the edge of the world. Set against the bleakest and greyest backdrop of modern day Romania, “Iska” is a 12 year old girl who spends her days collecting scrap metal in the junkyard to make a couple of cents to feed her parents’ alcohol addiction. Not only are her parents drunks, they are also abusive. “Iska,” a girl wise beyond her years, decides to run away from home. While running, she ends up in a youth shelter. Stubborn and resistant to help, “Iska” sets her own destination point as she strives to make it to the seaside. The seaside is symbolic of freedom, independence, and hope — the driving force behind her own personal journey. However, that dream only lingers. I left the theatre over an hour ago and I’m still sitting here at my computer, lingering. I recommend this movie for the powerful performance of Mária Varga as “Iska,” as she single-handedly grasps your attention throughout this otherwise insipid film. Iska’s Journey is definitely not an easy one to watch, but it may be worthwhile to do so. Because while the average Canadian adult is slaving away at his or her nine-to-five job, children on the other side of the world are fighting to hang onto their youth, picking up recycled scrap metal, begging for food — slaving their way through their own journey.