Panny z Wilka (1979)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writers:

Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz (short story)
Zbigniew Kaminski (writer)

Release Date:

4 September 1979 (Poland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Set in the late '20s. A thirtyish young man, who heads a small factory, faints at the funeral of a close friend...

Plot Keywords:

Aunt | Time | Uncle | Funeral | Sister

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Daniel Olbrychski	...	Wiktor Ruben
Anna Seniuk	...	Julcia
Maja Komorowska	...	Jola
Stanislawa Celinska	...	Zosia
Krystyna Zachwatowicz	...	Kazia
Christine Pascal	...	Tunia
Zbigniew Zapasiewicz	...	Julcia's Husband
Zofia Jaroszewska	...	Wiktor's Aunt
Tadeusz Bialoszczynski	...	Wiktor's Uncle
Paul Guers	...	Jola's Husband (as Paul Dutron)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kazimierz Brodzikowski	...	Butler
Andrzej Grzybowski
Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz	...	Himself
Filip Jasienski	...	Kazia's Son
Witold Kaluski	...	Coachman
Jolanta Kozak-Sutowicz
Andrzej Lapicki	...	Doctor
Halina Michalska
Kazimierz Orzechowski	...	Priest
Edward Ozana
Joanna Poraska	...	Mother
Alina Rostkowska
Barbara Stepniakówna
Andrzej Szenajch	...	Guest
Anna Wachnicka	...	Julcia's Daughter
Malgorzata Wachnicka	...	Julcia's Daughter
Krystyna Wolanska

Also Known As:

Les demoiselles de Wilko (France)
The Girl from Wilko
The Maids of Wilko
The Young Ladies of Wilko
Young Girls of Wilko

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

Poland | France

Language:

Polish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Radachówka, Poland

Company:

Films Molière

This film is great

I did enjoy this film - it's reflective, not too melancholy, not too taxing. It is a pleasant film.

It seems to me like this film inspired Utomlennoe Solntzem too, so that's a good enough reason to watch it as any. Like that other film, Panny z Wilco paints a convincing and pretty picture of the life of a large family and the theme of a man returning to such a place after many years to confront a romance which was left unfinished is mirrored. 'Burnt By the Sun' does owe a lot to Mikhailkov's earlier 'An Unfinished Piece for the Mechanical Piano' as well. Based on a Chekhovian play, (this film also features a scene were the mystery of a past romance is revealed to all present through the telling of a story.)

(In fact a tango is played, in Panny z Wilco, on the gramophone at one point that sounds suspiciously similar to the song of the title of that other film...)

Jola, one of the four sisters at Wilko, keeps breaking into lovely spontaneous laughter (I'm not sure why I mention this, it's just that, it seems to me, spontaneous laughter deserves a mention).