ZYGFRYD [1986]
year:
- 1986
release date:
- 9 III 1987
runtime:
- 91 min
directed by:
- Andrzej Domalik
written by:
- Andrzej Domalik
director of photography:
- Grzegorz Kędzierski
cast:
- Gustaw Holoubek [Stefan Drawicz], Tomasz Hudziec [Zygfryd, circus member], Maria Pakulnis [Maria, Waldo’s wife], Jan Nowicki [Waldo, circus director], Adam Ferency [Emil], Edward Żentara [Stanisław, Drawicz’s servant], Janusz Sterniński [Julian, a male dwarf], Krzysztof Stopa [Paganini], Teresa Barańska [Ina, a female dwarf], Jan Małyska [Pinokio], Irena Skrzypczak [Ksenia], Bogdan Li-U-Fa [Mandarin], Jerzy Tkaczyk [a tailor]
edited by:
- Małgorzata Domalik
music by:
- Jerzy Satanowski [muzyka cyrkowa], Grzegorz Pritulak [muzyka cyrkowa]
production design:
- Jerzy Sajko
produced by:
- Zespół Filmowy
executive producer:
- Henryk Romanowski
awards:
-
• Polish Feature Film Festival Gdańsk 1986: award for directorial debut or second feature film (Andrzej Domalik)
• Andrzej Munk Award, awarded by the National Film and Theatre School in 1986 for Andrzej Domalik
• Zbigniew Cybulski Award 1987 for Maria Pakulnis
• Golden Screen 1986 for Maria Pakulnis
• Head of the Cinematography Award 1986 for Andrzej Domalik
• IFF Taormina (Italy) 1987: Bronze Charybdis for Andrzej Domalik, best performance award for Maria Pakulnis
About the film
A brave take on the issue of homosexuality − rarely addressed in Polish cinema.
It is 1936. A circus arrives in a small town near the Polish border. Its director is Waldo, whose wife, Maria, is cheating on him with a young acrobat − Zygfryd. During his performance, Zygfryd attracts the attention of an older man, an aesthete and a humanist. Stefan Drawicz offers the boy friendship and love, opens him up to the world of culture, and teaches him conscious reflection on the meaning of his own life. Zygfryd is no longer satisfied with the circus. He treats Maria repulsively and with distaste and Waldo − with contempt. In his apartment, Drawicz asks Zygfryd to disrobe because he wants to draw him. When he touches him on the back, Zygfryd rejects him.
Drawicz hits his head on the edge of the desk. The acrobat, convinced that he has killed him, flees. During the evening performance, he sees Drawicz in the audience and loses his balance and falls. The circus leaves, and Zygfryd, paralysed, stays in Drawicz’s apartment; he has however lost all interest and avoids contact with Zygfryd.
Donata Zielińska, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
