Letters from Wolf Street

Wolf Street, as someone points out, has nothing to do with wolves. Yet, coincidentally, a person describes the behaviour of people nowadays as if they were "wolves". Letters from Wolf Street somehow similarly balances between this sort of ambiguity itself: in the incipit, it presents itself as a portrait of a street of Warsaw, seen from the perspective of indian filmmaker Arjun Talwar, and through that street, of polish society - in an operation not dissimilar from The Balcony Movie from Pawel Lozinski. As the film proceeds, the focus deviates slightly, it becomes something more: the exploration of integration, of the ambiguous identity of an immigrant in such a country like Poland, welcoming but also hostile, that fashions itself as cohesive, yet diverse. 

Talwar's own life experience intertwines with a whole series of characters, some polish, some immigrants like himself, such as Mo, also a film school graduate, also a foreigner, from China. The perspective that Talwar presents is tangently external - someone who is perceived as an outsider, but in reality is very much part of the society. This unusual role allows him to describe Poland in a way very few can, with a lucidity and insight, but also a playfulness and humanity that is rare.

The conclusions to which Letters from Wolf Street come are entirely constructive, affectionate even, but the film never loses its gravitas or its critical edge when portraying polish nationalism, the dangerous slogans used, the hypocritical racist attitude held by many. Yet, somehow Letters from Wolf Street doesn't charge itself up with anger (even when it legitimately could), it entertains a sort of harmony that hits deeper, incites to action more. 

Beyond its promise of a unique perspective, Letters from Wolf Street is a film with heart, that describes the human reality in its hypocrisies and ambiguous attitudes, but also in its diverse and most warm fashion.

RATING: 4/5

Original title: Letters from Wolf Street

Directed by: Arjun Talwar

Country: Poland

Year: 2025

Length: 98 min.

Premiere: Berlinale 2025