Powidoki (2016)

The story of charismatic painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who opposed social realism and maintained his own artistic freedom in spite of political obstacles.

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writers:

Andrzej Wajda (idea), Andrzej Mularczyk (screenplay)

Stars:

Boguslaw Linda, Bronislawa Zamachowska, Zofia Wichlacz

1 win & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Boguslaw Linda	...	Wladyslaw Strzeminski
Bronislawa Zamachowska	...	Nika Strzeminska
Zofia Wichlacz	...	Hania
Krzysztof Pieczynski	...	Julian Przybos
Mariusz Bonaszewski	...	Madejski
Szymon Bobrowski	...	Wlodzimierz Sokorski
Aleksander Fabisiak	...	Rajner
Paulina Galazka	...	Wasinska
Irena Melcer	...	Jadzia
Tomasz Chodorowski	...	Tomek
Filip Gurlacz	...	Konrad
Mateusz Rusin	...	Stefan
Mateusz Rzezniczak	...	Mateusz
Tomasz Wlosok	...	Roman
Adrian Zaremba	...	Wojtek

Storyline

The great Polish director Andrzej Wajda returns with this passionate biopic about avant-garde artist Wladyslaw Strzeminski (brilliantly played by Polish superstar Boguslaw Linda), who battled Stalinist orthodoxy and his own physical impairments to advance his progressive ideas about art.

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Plot Keywords:

painter | communism | 50s | student | art | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Akson Studio [Poland] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

13 January 2017 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Afterimage

Filming Locations:

Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,832, 19 May 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$30,093, 23 June 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Akson Studio,EC1 Lódz - Miasto Kultury,NINA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was selected to the 13th Edition of Dubai International Film Festival, December 2016.

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Connections

References Rece do góry (1981)

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Soundtracks

Piano Concerto
Written by Andrzej Panufnik
Performed by Narodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia w Katowicach
Conducted by Piotr Komorowski

User Reviews

A Magnificent Swansong As Good As Anything Wajda Ever Made

For what proved his cinematic swansong, the 90 year-old Andrzej Wajda came full circle, returning to the generation who provided the subject (and title) for the film that first made his name over 60 years ago. Wajda would have been the same age as the adoring students gathered around the avant-garde artist Władysław Strzemiński (1893-1952) at the art school at Łódź he had co-founded in 1945; but as a one-man awkward squad he was soon drawing the fire of the postwar communist authorities.

The sustained official campaign of death by a thousand cuts inflicted on Strzemiński strongly recalls that depicted in Wajda's earlier 'Rough Treatment' (1978), to which 'Afterimage' often feels like a prequel. The earlier film, however, was an angry, brutally contemporary film, while 'Afterimage' - while vividly conveying the Orwellian nightmare that was Stalinist Poland - is a much mellower piece recalling the far-off days of Wajda's youth with a grace and energy wholly belying his astonishing age; and Andrzej Mularczyk's script gleams throughout with flashes of wry black humour. The film has few out and out villains, with most of Strzemiński's persecutors sympathetic but powerless to resist.

The jagged widescreen photography of Pawel Edelman and design by Marek Warszewski simultaneously evoke the monochromatic drabness of life under communism while often looking vaguely expressionistic, with odd flashes of colour skilfully deployed. (A particular visual highlight is the priceless scene early on in which his studio is saturated with red light from a banner of Stalin erected directly outside his window, to which his already characteristic response is guaranteed to get him into trouble.)

Bogusław Linda's performance as Strzemiński would be impressive enough even without the remarkable technical feat he accomplishes of nipping about on crutches minus his left arm and left leg, while Bronislawa Zamachowska is tremendous as his equally resilient and bloody-minded daughter Nika; truly a chip off the old block.