A big-budget widescreen adaptation of Bołeslaw Prus’s novel, this was Wojciech Has’s first colour feature. Former brewery clerk Stanisław Wokulski (Mariusz Dmochowski) has returned to late 1870s Warsaw after a prolonged exile in Siberia for his revolutionary activities, and his various highly successful business activities (including arms dealing) have the primary aim of wooing Izabela (Beata Tyszkiewicz), daughter of a bankrupt aristocrat. But despite Stanisław’s financial acumen, he will always be part of the “wrong” social class thanks to him living in what he calls “a deformed country”. The ravishing score is by Wojciech Kilar, his only collaboration with Has.
Please note, tickets will go on sale to the public at https://www.bfi.org.uk/ on the 13 March 2025 (BFI champion members from 10 March & BFI members from 11 March)
