Snow White and Russian Red

Colour, 35 mm
Poland, 2009, 108 min
IP – International premiere
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

This adaptation of the controversial literary debut by the then 18-year-old Polish writer Dorota Masłowska tells the story of a tough nationalist, homophobe, racist and anti-semite called Silny. His girlfriend Magda leaves him and he gets together with the satanist virgin Angela. Together they hang out in the nihilistic environment of drug-dependent urban wretches whom Silny regards with a commentary fed on black humour and paranoia. Snow White and Russian Red is a poetic, direct and disturbing portrayal of love, hopelessness and political burnout in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. It’s just as frenzied and insane (in the positive sense) as the novel and even incorporates Masłowska into the plot (played by Masłowska herself). The film uses various formal approaches in order to achieve the same sense of ferocity and volatility as the book, which was highly acclaimed for its stylistic merits as well. This praiseworthy attempt to adapt a challenging literary model for the screen hovers on the edge of experimentation, however, it unquestionably preserves the clarity and spirit of the original.

About the director

Xawery Żuławski (b. 1971, Warsaw), the son of Polish film director Andrzej Żuławski and actress Małgorzata Braunek, studied at the National Film School in Łódź. He gave his debut in 2006 with the feature film Chaos, which earned him the title Best Debut Director at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. He was also involved in the film project Europe 99euro-films.