Pornography

Pornografia, 2003, 117 min.

Pornography (2003)

Production

Director Jan Jakub Kolski
Screenplay Jan Jakub Kolski, Luc Bondy, Gerard Brach (based on the novel by Witold Gombrowicz)
Cinematography Krzysztof Ptak
Music Zygmunt Konieczny
Art Director Andrzej Przedworski, Joanna Doroszkiewicz, Piotr Kopec
Producer Lew Rywin, Antoine De Clermont-Tonnere
Cast
Fryderyk Krzysztof Majchrzak
Witold Adam Ferency
Hipolit Krzysztof Globisz
Maria, Hipolit’s wife Grazyna Blecka-Kolska
Waclaw Grzegorz Damiecki
Siemian Jan Frycz
Amelia Sandra Samos
Sitting Room Landlady Magdalena Rozczka
Story
Polish author Witold Gombrowicz was one of the most remarkable writers of the 20th century; this provocative adaptation of his third novel, which he described as “a descent to the dark limits of the conscience and the body” should win him new admirers. Set in Nazi-occupied Poland, Pornography (Pornografia) focuses on two middle-aged men: Frederic, a theater and film director, and Witold, a writer who serves as a wry commentator. The two journey out to the country estate of Hippolyte, a friend of Witold marginally involved in the resistance. There they encounter German soldiers and partisans, young lovers and even younger murderers, patriots and Catholics. Frederic will reveal an uncanny ability to hear clearly even distant and delicate sounds. Director Jan Jakub Kolski effectively finds the cinematic means to capture Gombrowicz’s abrupt changes of mood and tone and almost surreal juxtapositions, while anchoring the story in a very concrete time.