THE WOMAN IN THE HAT [1984]
year:
- 1984
release date:
- 2 IX 1985
runtime:
- 101 min
directed by:
- Stanisław Różewicz
written by:
- Stanisław Różewicz
director of photography:
- Jerzy Wójcik
cast:
- Hanna Mikuć [Ewa], Maria Czubasiewicz [Grabowska], Barbara Dziekan [Jadwiga], Krzysztof Gosztyła [N.], Mieczysław Grąbka [Rysio], Marek Kondrat [director Lewicki], Wiesława Mazurkiewicz [Ewa’s mother], Henryk Machalica [Jan Ziembiński], Magdalena Wołłejko [Magda], Jan Kociniak [a caretaker], Tomasz Lengren [a director]
edited by:
- Urszula Śliwińska
music by:
- Jerzy Satanowski
production design:
- Halina Dobrowolska
produced by:
- Studio Filmowe „Tor”
executive producer:
- Henryk Romanowski
awards:
-
• IFF Moscow (Soviet Union) 1985: Silver Medal, the FIPRESCI award for Stanisław Różewicz
• Award of the Minister of Culture and Arts of the 1st degree for Stanisław Różewicz
• Polish Feature Film Festival Gdańsk in 1985: Grand Prix Golden Lions for Stanisław Różewicz, award for best sound for Zygmunt Nowak
• The Wyspiański Young Art Award of the 2nd degree for Hanna Mikuć
About the film
The film shows an unsolvable dilemma: the artist is required to be sensitive, but it is strength that wins the competition. Lofty ideas about acting have nothing to do with the everyday reality of the profession. An actor is to be an obedient performer, not a creative personality. Connections prove to be more important than talent.
Ewa is an aspiring actress, but she lacks clout − an important attribute in her chosen profession. She admires her experienced colleague, Ziembiński, who has not lost dignity and respect for others throughout many years of working. Director Lewicki arrives at the theatre. He offers the role of Cordelia in King Lear to Ewa. Ewa begins obsessing about the character. She visits her former professor from the theatre school and talks to her about the essence of acting.
Ewa's friend arranges a job for her in a film. The role of the woman in a hat character is a minor one. Ewa unsuccessfully tries to find out what meaning it has for the director. When she obtains the information that it is the hat that really matters, she rejects the role. Her love life is cold. She breaks up with a man who wants to marry her; she finds it difficult to connect with her mother. She is shocked when she finds out that the role of Cordelia was offered to her colleague. In the end, it is decided that Shakespeare’s play will not be staged at all. Ziembiński as King Lear and Ewa as Cordelia walk along the seashore. They talk to each other with lines from Shakespeare.
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Waldemar Piątek, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
