underground cinema

HOW TO BE LOVED

7 februari 20:30 - 23:00

JAK BYC KOCHANA 1963
(How to be Loved)
Directed by Wojciech Has
97 minutes
In Polish with English subtitles

Bittersweet film with a deep cutting edge about memories that can't be changed and can't be shaken off. It is also about dreams that don't work out the way you want. And, in the end, it is also about history and the scars caused by the Second World War. It is based on a novel of the same name by Kazimierz Brandys.

The main focus is on Polish theater actress Felicja, who is flying from Warsaw to Paris. She has achieved a certain level of fame, but she can't help but knock back glass after glass of cognac on her trip. As the plane goes forward, her mind drifts backwards. Memories keep flashing back to her experiences during the war, and a fellow actor she knew who was being hunted down by the occupying Nazis force. I won't say more about the story, but this flick has a wonderful brooding atmosphere with classic black-and-white cinematography. Thematically it is about trying to come to grips with your situation, and attempting to find some kind of meaning in your life.

It was made by one of Poland's best directors - Wojciech Has (The Saragossa Manuscript; The Hourglass Sanatorium) whose movies often have a surreal or dreamy edge, since he knew the world is not only physical, but also metaphysical. It features the legendary actor Zbigniew Cybulski, sporting his iconic dark sunglasses. There were movies pouring out of Poland back in the 1960s, many of which are totally lost in all the avalanche of over-information of our world today, and this is one of those forgotten gems.