Sweet Rush

Colour, 35 mm
Poland, 2008, 83 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

In his new film legendary director Andrzej Wajda returns for the fourth time to the prose of Polish literary legend Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (previous works based on Iwaszkiewicz include The Birch Wood, 1970, The Maids of Wilko, 1979 and June Night, 2001). The skeleton of this unusual film is the story of Marta, the lonely wife of a small-town doctor who, during the post-war years, tries to come to terms with the loss of both sons and, in the process, starts up a relationship with the young, simple labourer Boguś. In the main role Wajda cast one of Poland’s most respected contemporary actresses, Krystyna Janda, who invested in the film a personal, highly emotional theme in her decision to share her own grief at the loss of someone she loved. Thus, on another plot level, the static camera scrutinises the actress as she sits in a dimly-lit hotel room serenely describing the last days spent with her dying husband, the cinematographer Edward Kłosiński. Sweet Rush is a multi-layered reflection on death and on the thin line which separates life and death. Wajda’s film won the Alfred Bauer Award at this year’s Berlin IFF for its innovative approach.

About the director

Andrzej Wajda (b. 1926, Suwałki, Poland) devoted a large portion of his work to Poland’s wartime history. After his debut Generation (Pokolenie, 1954) he focused on resistance fighters from the unsung Home Army in the films Canal (Kanał, 1956), Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i diament, 1958) and The Crowned Eagle Ring (Pierścionek z orłem w koronie, 1992). He described the tragic beginnings of war in  Speed (Lotna, 1959) and Chronicle of Love Affairs (Kronika wypadków miłosnych, 1985), the post-war trauma of Polish prisoners in Landscape after the Battle (Krajobraz po bitwie, 1970), and the humiliating treatment of Poles in A Love in Germany (Eine Liebe in Deutschland, 1983). He examined the Jewish question in Samson (1961), Korczak (1988) and The Holy Week (Wielki Tydzień, 1995), returning to the theme of war in Katyn. Surprising for its innovative approach, Sweet Rush picked up the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlinale.