HOW TO BE LOVED [1962]
year:
- 1962
release date:
- 11 I 1963
runtime:
- 97 min
directed by:
- Wojciech Jerzy Has
written by:
- Kazimierz Brandys based on his own short story
director of photography:
- Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz
cast:
- Barbara Krafftówna [Felicja], Zbigniew Cybulski [Wiktor Rawicz], Artur Młodnicki [Tomasz], Wieńczysław Gliński [a bacteriologist on the plane], Wiesław Gołas [German soldier raping Felicja], Wiesława Kwaśniewska [a reporter on the plane], Zdzisław Maklakiewicz [Zenon, a journalist on the plane], Tadeusz Kalinowski [actor Peters], Andrzej Hrydzewicz [German soldier searching Felicja’s house], Zofia Jamry [a waitress in the actors’ cafe], Kalina Jędrusik [girl listening to Rawicz in the cafe]
edited by:
- Zofia Dwornik
music by:
- Lucjan Kaszycki
production design:
- Anatol Radzinowicz
produced by:
- Zespół Filmowy „Kamera”, Ludgierd Romanis, WFF Wrocław
executive producer:
- Ludgierd Romanis
awards:
-
- IFF San Francisco (USA) 1963: Golden Gate, best actress award for Barbara Krafftowna, best screenplay award for Kazimierz Brandys
- IFF Edinburgh (United Kingdom) 1963: diploma
- IFF Cork (Ireland) 1963: diploma
- Golden Duck 1963
- IFF Beirut (Lebanon) 1963: FIPRESCI Award
About the film
An intimate response to the martyrological and romantic trend of Polish Film School. Reality consists of two contrasting worlds: the past − visually close to Pętla and Pożegnania; and the contemporary − limited to the sterile interior of the plane and the airport.
A famous actress hosting the radio show, "Dinner at the Konopkas", goes to Paris by plane. During the flight, she recalls the times of the Nazi occupation.
As a young actress she worked in a café, while being involved in the underground resistance. She is ordered to provide shelter in her apartment to a well-known actor, Wiktor Rawicz, who is hiding due to suspicion of murdering Peters, a collaborator. Because of her unfortunate unrequited love for Wiktor, who hides in her room throughout the occupation, the girl must act in the German theatre. She even pays for his safety by being raped by German soldiers. After the liberation, as a collaborating actress, she is banned from working in the theatre. Wiktor leaves her and succumbs to alcoholism. Discovered in a pub and brought back to the apartment, which is etched in his memory as a prison, he jumps from the window of his little room and ends his life. Felicja struggles to put her life back together.
Jan Słodowski, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
