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The Young Ladies of Wilko
Exquisite period tale of a young man who re-visits the idyllic rural estate where he used to summer before the war, only to discover just how much things have changed.
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Overview
Having received his first major break as an actor with (the now internationally renowned) Andrzej Wajda, Daniel Olbrychski continued to appear in his films and took the lead in this elegiac tale of 1920s Poland. Often described as ‘Chekhovian” The Young Ladies of Wilko is based on a story by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz in which a young man in crisis re-visits a place that holds many happy memories and discovers how things have changed.
The enigmatic story is a meditation on life, (a change of pace from Wajdas preceding political films) unfolding around the women on the Wilko farm. Filmed on location, designed by Allan Starski (also a long term collaborator with Wajda) the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and enjoyed success abroad, including festivals in New York and Locarno.
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