This film is currently unavailable
This film is not rated
- Film contains images that some viewers might find disturbing
Rose
Agata Kulesza (Ida) won the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress for this devastating tale of wartime survival and shared trauma.
Drama 2011 94 mins Not rated
Director: Wojciech Smarzowski
Overview
Now memorable to UK audiences as Aunt Wanda in Pawlikowski’s Ida (also on BFI Player) Agata Kulesza was already well known in Poland when she played this title role, for which she won the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress. Opening with a brutal rape scene that informs the moral centre of the film, Rose explores what it is to be on the ‘wrong side’ of the authorities. Tadeusz (Marcin Dorociński), whose wife was probably the rape victim, sets out for the Mazury region on the former Polish Prussian Border to inform Rose that her husband has died. Her complex identity as a Masurian, German, Pole and as a woman makes her extremely vulnerable to abuse. Slowly they develop an understanding which defies their histories, largely predicated on sheer survival.
Director Smarzowski recently attracted attention with box-office success Clergy. His films steadfastly tackle serious issues head-on, inviting us to appreciate their complexity, rather than resorting to cliches.
Related
Drama
Zama Zama
Drama 2017 115 mins Director: Lucrecia Martel
Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel returns with a fine adaptation of Antonio Di Benedetto’s existential novel. In her first feature since 2008’s The Headless Woman, Martel creates a richly layered exploration of personal malaise.
Meek's Cutoff Meek's Cutoff
Drama 2010 103 mins Director: Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt's absorbing and beautifully composed western, set on the Oregon trail in the 1840s.
An Autumn Afternoon An Autumn Afternoon
Drama 1962 113 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's elegiac final film charts the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth.
Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
Drama 1953 136 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujiro Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.
The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice
Drama 1952 116 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu’s beautiful domestic drama is piercing portrait of a marriage coming quietly undone in post-war Tokyo.
A Hen in the Wind A Hen in the Wind
Drama 1948 84 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
In a Japan recently devastated by World War II a devoted, near-destitute mother turns to prostitution to pay medical bills when her son falls dangerously ill.
KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival
Kill It and Leave This Town Kill It and Leave This Town
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2020 88 mins Director: Mariusz Wilczynski
This nightmarish, haunting and beautifully poetic animation is a deeply personal tale from self-taught animator Mariusz Wilczyński that was 15 years in the making.
The Children of Leningradsky The Children of Leningradsky
Documentary 2004 34 mins Director: Hanna Polak
Oscar-nominated documentary following children found fighting for survival on the streets and railway stations of Moscow.
Day of the Wacko Day of the Wacko
Drama 2003 90 mins Director: Marek Koterski
In this delightfully absurdist comedy, a misanthropic teacher enacts an incessant interior tirade against the modern world and the indignities of modern life.
33 Scenes From Life 33 Scenes From Life
Drama 2008 95 mins Director: Małgorzata Szumowska
Dark drama studded with pitch black comedy from Małgorzata Szumowska (Mug, The Other Lamb, Never Gonna Snow Again), about a successful photographer whose life unravels spectacularly.
Reverse Reverse
Drama 2009 96 mins Director: Borys Lankosz
The impact of Stalinist politics is revealed through the everyday lives of three Polish women, in this remarkable black comedy that took the festival circuit by storm.
Hi, Tereska! Hi, Tereska!
Drama 2001 86 mins Director: Robert Glinski
A series of ill-judged choices divert 15-year-old Tereska into a cycle of violence and poverty, in this strong, visceral coming-of-age drama.
New
Zama Zama
Drama 2017 115 mins Director: Lucrecia Martel
Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel returns with a fine adaptation of Antonio Di Benedetto’s existential novel. In her first feature since 2008’s The Headless Woman, Martel creates a richly layered exploration of personal malaise.
Varda by Agnès Varda by Agnès
Biopic 2018 115 mins Director: Agnès Varda
In her final film, Agnès Varda offers a personal insight into her oeuvre, using excerpts from her work to illustrate her unique artistic visions and ideas.
Meek's Cutoff Meek's Cutoff
Drama 2010 103 mins Director: Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt's absorbing and beautifully composed western, set on the Oregon trail in the 1840s.
An Autumn Afternoon An Autumn Afternoon
Drama 1962 113 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's elegiac final film charts the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth.
Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
Drama 1953 136 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujiro Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.
A Mother Should be Loved A Mother Should be Loved
Melodrama 1934 74 mins Silent Director: Yasujiro Ozu
The surviving, incomplete version of Ozu's moving silent drama about a young man struggling to deal with a disturbing family secret.