This harrowing tale of survival centers on Rose, a Masurian woman, whose German soldier husband was killed in the war, leaving her alone on their farm. A single woman had no defense against Russian soldiers who raped as a form of revenge, nor against plundering Poles who found themselves in desperate straits. Help arrives for Rose in the form of Tadeusz, a former officer in the Polish Home Army who deserted after he saw his wife raped and murdered by Russian troops and is attempting to hide his identity.
Acting
Agata Kulesza's silence speaks entire histories.
Direction
Smarzowski never lets you look away comfortably.
Cinematography
Bleached landscapes that feel post-apocalyptic.
Director
Wojtek Smarzowski
Marcin Dorociński
Tadeusz
Agata Kulesza
Róża Kwiatkowska
Malwina Buss
Jadwiga Kwiatkowska
Jacek Braciak
Władek
Kinga Preis
Amelia
Edward Linde-Lubaszenko
Pastor
Marian Dziędziel
Mateusz
Eryk Lubos
Wasyl
Andrzej Konopka
Lekarz Leliwa
Marcin Juchniewicz
Kumpel Wasyla
Szymon Bobrowski
Kazik
Karolina Porcari
Anna
Jerzy Rogalski
hairdresser
Lech Dyblik
Woźniak
Anna Grzeszczak
Gretchen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Masuria's complex identity—German-speaking, Polish by postwar decree—remains contested territory in Polish-German memory politics.
Smarzowski shot in authentic Masurian villages where elderly locals still refused to discuss 1945; some locations were found through church death records.
PL
