- Little Rose (Poland 2010. Director: Jan Kidawa-Blonski). Cast: Andrzej Seweryn, Magdalena Boczarska, Robert Wieckiewicz, Grazyna Szapolowska, Jan Frycz.
In Polish with English subtitles.
Rating: 8 (out of 10)
Add Jan Kidawa-Blonski's political thriller, Little Rose, to a long list of cinematic gems that have come out of Poland's illustrious film industry.
In the golden age of Polish film in the '50s and '60s filmmakers such as Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk, Wojciech Has, Krzysztof Kieslowski and Roman Polanski (all alumni of the Lodz Film School) set a high standard of excellence under less than ideal conditions. With Little Rose Kidawa-Blonski manages to match their input in both form and content.
Like some of Wajda's films (such as the superb Man of Marble and Man of Iron series about the Solidarity movement) Kidawa-Blonski mixes fact and fiction in a story based on actual events that took place in 1967: a government agent (played by Robert Wieckiewicz) pressures his girlfriend (Magdalena Boczarsk) to get close to a "subversive" intellectual (Andrzej Seweryn).
Kidawa-Blonski's treatment of the period story is also informed by the French New Wave of Godard, Truffaut and Chabrol with Little Rose's intense mise-en-scène reminiscent of films such as The Soft Skin. The stellar Magdalena Boczarsk could have stepped out of a classic Nouvelle Vague film herself.
The production won well-deserved Best Film and Best Actress honours at the annual Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and Best Director award at the 2010 Moscow International Film Festival.
For more information on the European Union Film Festival running Nov. 25 to Dec. 8 visit eufilmfestival.com.
