AXILIAD [1985]
year:
- 1985
release date:
- 13 X 1986
runtime:
- 78 min
directed by:
- Witold Leszczyński
written by:
- Witold Leszczyński
director of photography:
- Jerzy Łukaszewicz
cast:
- Edward Żentara [Janek Pradera], Ludwik Pak [Peresada], Daniel Olbrychski [Michał Kątny], Jerzy Block [maszynista Bartoszko], Franciszek Pieczka [forester Bogdański], Krzysztof Majchrzak [Kaziuk], Ludwik Benoit [Wasyluk], Jan Jurewicz [Selpka], Wiktor Zborowski [young Batiuk], Jadwiga Kuryluk [Granma Oleńka], Joanna Sienkiewicz [librarian Halinka], Anna Milewska [Cecylka], Marta Żentara [Apple-Tree Twig], Iga Cembrzyńska [a drunk woman at the party], Maria Ciunelis [Selpka’s wife]
edited by:
- Łucja Ośko
music by:
- Jerzy Satanowski, Antonio Vivaldi
production design:
- Maciej Maria Putowski
produced by:
- Studio Filmowe „Perspektywa”, Telewizja Polska
executive producer:
- Tadeusz Drewno
awards:
-
• Head of the Cinematography Award for filmmaking 1986 for Witold Leszczyński
• Polish Feature Film Festival Gdańsk 1986: Grand Prix Golden Lion, best supporting actor award for Ludwik Pak
• Lubusz Film Summer Łagów 1986: Grand Prix Golden Grape
• Golden Screen 1986 for Edward Żentara
• IFF Berlin (Germany) 1987: Young Cinema Forum Award
• The Zbigniew Cybulski Award 1987 for Edward Żentara
About the film
A lyrical parable about the search for one’s place in life and discovering a magic reality in the harsh world of forest people.
A poet, Janek Pradera, in love with Apple-Tree Twig, travels to remote corners of Poland, unable to accept the hypocrisy and duplicity of the world. He takes a job as a lumberjack. The local forester directs him to lodgings at Grandma Oleńka’s.
He meets open, friendly people, each of whom − despite their simplicity − is a personality with their very own philosophy of life. He becomes friends with some old woodcutters − Peresada, Wasyluk, and Selpka − with whom he spends most of his free time at the inn in Hoplanka. Pradera gets a roommate, Michał Kątny, a gadabout, similar to Janek in character. Days pass filled with hard work. Prader decides to return to Apple-Tree Twig, but on the way there, he chooses death under the wheels of a train instead.
Jan Słodowski, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
