Wesele

The Wedding

I've heard - more than once - an opinion that The Wedding should never be presented outside of Poland, because it depicts our country in a way we, Polish people, don't want to be seen by foreigners. Needless to say, I was curious to hear the foreigners' reaction. Surprisingly, The Wedding became the most wanted Polish film of 2004/2005. Using the name The Wedding as a title was an act of bravery on the part of the director Wojtek Smarzowski. In Polish tradition it is a sacred title - there was a theatre play of the same title from 1901 by Stanislaw Wyspianski, dubbed "the most original play written for the theatre in the Polish language" and a classical film from the 1970s by Andrzej Wajda. There is a scene in the film, which I think needs to be explained: towards the end of the film all participants of the ceremony sing a song - the title is "Rota" it's very patriotic and very religious, like a second national anthem of Poland. (Stefan Laudyn)

Panorama Special 2005
Wojtek Smarzowski
Poland 2004
color
109 minutes
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Wojtek Smarzowski
Cinematography Andrzej Szulkowski
Editing Pawel Laskowski
Music Ryszard Tymon Tymanski
With Marian Dziedziel, Iwona Bielska-Grabowska, Tamara Arciuch, Maciek Stuhr, Bartomiej Topa, Pawel Wilczak
Production
Grupa Filmowa ul. Wita Stwosza 17a 02-661 Warschau Polen T +48 22 848 7811 F +48 22 843 9697 www.grupafilmowa.com.pl office@grupafilmowa.com.pl