PAN TADEUSZ (1999)

PAN TADEUSZ (1999)



Image: PAL , 2.35:1 , 16:9



Languaje: Spanish, Polish



Subtitles: English, Spanish



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Director: Andrzej Wajda



Cast:

Boguslaw Linda .... Jacek Soplica alias Priest Robak

Daniel Olbrychski .... Gerwazy

Grazyna Szapolowska .... Telimena

Andrzej Seweryn .... Judge Soplica

Marek Kondrat .... Count Horeszko

Krzysztof Kolberger .... Adam Mickiewicz

Sergei Shakurov .... Rykow (as Siergiej Szakurow)

Jerzy Binczycki .... Maciej Kr?lik-R?zeczka

Alicja Bachleda-Curus .... Zosia Horeszk?wna

Michal Zebrowski .... Tadeusz Soplica (Pan Tadeusz)

Jerzy Trela .... Podkomorzy

Jerzy Gralek .... Wojski

Marian Kociniak .... Protazy

Piotr Gasowski .... Rejent

Andrzej Hudziak .... Asesor



Plot:



Andrzej Wajda has taken a masterpiece in one genre (poetry) and not only done justice to it but created a masterpiece in another genre (film), one which did not even exist when Mickiewicz wrote the poem 166 years earlier.



The actors are mainly well-known faces in Polish cinema and yet all rise above the stereotypical images many of the audience have of them. The greatest example of this is Boguslaw Linda as Robak the Priest. In the most moving scene in the film he gives the performance of his life.



The harmonious blend of Wajda's direction and Wojciech Kilar's score is a sensual feast. It is a film which impresses a profound sense of beauty to such an extent that one could appreciate the sheer art of the film without even having to understand the language (I cannot vouch for the quality of the sub-titles in English as I saw it in its original version).



If you only see one foreign language film this year, make sure it is this one.