Polish Film Festival in America
A moderately successful Warsaw lawyer slogs through the petty annoyances and ethical dilemmas of modern Poland in this troubling feature by Jerzy Stuhr. Once a student leader in the anticommunist movement, he’s been ground down by his dead-end job and the stagnant economy; over the course of seven days he struggles to buy a home, adopt a child, and make his dying mother comfortable, yet the more he fights the more the world overwhelms him. Like Kafka’s Joseph K., he’s a puppet of forces beyond his control, yet Stuhr’s superior storytelling skills elevate this slice of life into a fascinating existential drama. (JH) (Copernicus Center, 7:30)
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Jerzy Hoffman directed this three-hour adaptation of a historical novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz (Quo Vadis?), set in the mid-17th century when rival armies of Poles, Tartars, cossacks, and rebellious peasants battled for control of Poland and the Ukraine. The film is filled with brutality–impaling, hangings, torching of villages–yet none of it seems gratuitous; its epic battles recall the grand devastation of Kurosawa’s films, and Hoffman never loses sight of his characters, the warlords who fancy themselves errant knights but behave like cutthroats. In true Hollywood fashion he also finds time for a romance, between the most beautiful princess in Poland and the only warrior who looks good wearing mud and a three-day beard. But he’s much more interested in capturing the sweep of history and sketching its various players; his utterly absorbing epic succeeds as both historical document and ripping good adventure story. (JH) (Copernicus Center, 10:00 am)
Ed Harris stars as a disillusioned priest who’s assigned to investigate a series of miraculous incidents, a mission that forces him to explore his own faith. Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden, Europa Europa) directed; with Anne Heche and Armin Mueller-Stahl. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, who composed the film’s score, will attend the screening. (Copernicus Center, 6:00)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7
A Week in the Life of a Man
Films by Pawel Lozinski
