Jan and Maria become a couple in 1930s Kraków. Jan tries to get a job as an architect but fails. They struggle with poverty and extreme humiliation. Their attempt to survive leads to a desperate crime.
Direction
Królikiewicz's debut is formally daring experimental Polish cinema.
Acting
Trzeciak and Nieborowska convey entire marriage in glances.
Cinematography
Cramped frames that suffocate—poverty as visual prison.
Director
Grzegorz Królikiewicz
Franciszek Trzeciak
Jan Malisz
Anna Nieborowska
Maria Maliszowa
Irena Ładosiówna
Old Woman
Lucyna Winnicka
Photographic Studio Owner
Ewa Zdzieszyńska
Ewa
Jerzy Block
Old Man
Marcel Novek
Party Guest
Edward Radulski
Edek
Janusz Sykutera
Architect
Jerzy Stuhr
Malisz's Brother
Marian Dziędziel
Man Examining Malisz's Works (uncredited)
Bogusław Sochnacki
Sentence Reader (voice) (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Polish thaw but set in 1930s, film smuggles critique of socialist-realist heroism through historical poverty.
Królikiewicz later became known for documentary work; this fiction debut already shows his eye for social anatomy.
PL
