Plot
Anna, a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland, is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the years of the Nazi occupation.
Storyline
Poland, 1962. Anna, an orphan brought up by nuns in the convent, is a novice. She has to see Wanda, the only living relative, before she takes her vows. Wanda tells Anna about her Jewish roots. Both women start a journey not only to find their family's tragic story, but to see who they really are and where they belong. They question what they used to believe in. Both of them are trying to go on living but only one eventually can.
Writers: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Pawel Pawlikowski
Cast: Agata Kulesza -
Wanda
Agata Trzebuchowska -
Anna
Dawid Ogrodnik -
Lis
Jerzy Trela -
Szymon
Adam Szyszkowski -
Feliks
Halina Skoczynska -
Mother Superior
Joanna Kulig -
Singer
Dorota Kuduk -
Kaska
Natalia Lagiewczyk -
Bronia
Afrodyta Weselak -
Marysia
Mariusz Jakus -
Barman
Izabela Dabrowska -
Waitress
Artur Janusiak -
Policeman
Anna Grzeszczak -
Neighbour
Jan Wociech Poradowski -
Father Andrew
Country: Poland, Denmark
Language: Polish
Release Date: 2 May 2014
Filming Locations: Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Cinematographer Ryszard Lenczewski was forced to quit the film after ten days' shooting for medical reasons. He was replaced by Lukasz Zal. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
While French artsy-critic magazine "telerama" gave it an ecstatic
review, there is one thing I wasn't prepared for: the quality of the
images. Set in an almost-but-not-quite faded black and white, of about
completely square format, I was sure the movie, set and shot in Poland,
was using some obscure last reels of some obscure special negatives,
developed in a forgotten cold-war era lab... Well, according to the
credits, that was all digital, from start to finish. All the haters of
DDD processes out there (I'm one of them), we can now be assured the
modern film-maker has today the ability to really work on grain,
under-exposure, blurred shadows and all that; Wiene, Murneau, Dreyer,
Eisenstein and Lang be damned.
I was stunned. This, and the quite audacious camera angles, the ever so
close close-ups that only half a face remains visible. I even noticed
what should be considered an error (walking in the forest, you only see
the characters up from their ankles, missing their feet labouring
trough the undergrowth)... And it just works because of the richness of
the various tree trunk's winter greys.
Add to that the settings, the aesthetics of semi-derelict post-war
communist décor, and the odd 'innocent girl meets nice boy' arch-cute
scene, but that was to be expected from the start, even if it is just
about perfect. The Hotel is... A graphic masterpiece in itself.
So yeah, the movie is worth it's weight on that alone already, and then
there is Agata Kulesza, so absolutely right every part of her role as
Aunt Wanda, so whole and complex inside a movie that doesn't otherwise
spend lengths on character's backgrounds that she just draws you
inside, whether you know her story, her past, her issues or not. A
jaw-dropping performance.
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