Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018) – Review

review Struggle- The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
From the moment we are born, we are slowly taught how to behave, what social norms are and how to think about certain things. All so that you can ultimately find your place in society. But what if that wasn’t the case? If you believe artist StanisÅ‚aw Szukalski, that would result in much more creativity. He invented his own alphabet at school and his father supported him in it, even when the school complained about it to him. He continued to use it and turned out to be very talented as a sculptor. His works were compared with those of Michelangelo and at the beginning of the last century he was well known. He received orders from world leaders, but despite all that success, he was forgotten. He moved several times and eventually ended up in Burbank, America, where he grew old.

Art collector Glenn Bray happened to come across a book by him and was fascinated. Not long after he saw a drawing in a shop that clearly came from Szukalski’s hand, he got into conversation and found that he was alive and even lived near him. He decided to make contact and visit. It would be the beginning of years of friendship and everyone who met him realized how brilliant Szukalski was. One of those people was the father of Leonardo DiCaprio, George DiCaprio and he decided to produce this documentary about Szuskalski with his son. While making it, they discovered that he was more complicated than the man they knew. Continue reading