FAITHFUL RIVER [1983]
year:
- 1983
release date:
- 31 VIII 1987
runtime:
- 137 min
directed by:
- Tadeusz Chmielewski
written by:
- Tadeusz Chmielewski, Halina Chmielewska [based on the novel by Stefan Żeromski]
director of photography:
- Jerzy Stawicki
cast:
- Małgorzata Pieczyńska [Salomea Brynicka], Olgierd Łukaszewicz [Józef Odrowąż], Franciszek Pieczka [Szczepan], Maria Homerska [Countess], Henryk Bista [doctor Kulewski], Henryk Machalica [Cossack Major], Jerzy Turek [head of the village], Wojciech Wysocki [Cpt. Wiesnicyn], Tomasz Zaliwski [Hubert Olbromski], Artur Barciś [an insurgent], Jan Jurewicz [Kruk], Irena Burawska [a woman with water], Izabella Kulawik [Ryfka], Jacek Domański [Lt. Bykow], Paweł Kruk [Cossack]
edited by:
- Mirosława Garlicka
music by:
- Jerzy Matuszkiewicz
production design:
- Bogdan Sölle
produced by:
- Zespół Filmowy „X”
executive producer:
- Michał Szczerbic
awards:
-
Polish Feature Film Festival Gdynia 1987: award for best director and best music score
About the film
A heroic love drama set to a patriotic background. It is the third adaptation of the novel; delayed by the censor for five years this time.
The time of the January Uprising. Józef Odrowąż, injured in a skirmish, manages to escape from the battlefield to a nearby estate. He is helped by Salomea Brynicka, the daughter of the steward of the estate. Cossacks are looking for Odrowąż. The girl, despite the reluctance of the servant Szczepan, takes the risk of trying to save the duke’s life. A friendly physician from the town operates on him. Józef slowly recovers and feelings develop between him and Salomea. One night, Hubert Olbromski, Commissioner of the National Government, arrives in the estate. In the morning, the insurgents are attacked by the Cossacks. Olbromski escapes to the river, where he throws important documents into the water just before he is killed. Wiesnicyn, commander of the Cossacks, guesses who Odrowąż is, but he spares his life and leaves the estate. In the springtime, the love idyll is interrupted by the arrival of Duchess Odrowąż, who takes her son away with her. She rewards Salomea with a purse of gold coins, which the girl throws into the river.
Jan Słodowski, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
