Stills from the film Kobieta samotna (A Lonely Woman) directed by Agnieszka Holland, based on a screenplay by Holland and Maciej Karpiński.
Poland in the 80s. A study of loneliness one cannot escape. Irena, a mature woman, and a lonely mother, hardly makes the ends meet, working as a postwoman. She receives no support from anyone and her life is one big agony. A ray of hope appears when her and an invalid pensioner, Jacek, come closer together. This, however, turns out to be a beginning of an ultimate tragedy. Jacek dreams about emigrating to a "better world." For him, Irena sends her son to an orphanage, steals money which she was supposed to deliver to the addressees. Irena's and Jacek's escape makes no sense, it is bound to fail, and ends tragically. Recipient of Special Jury Award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia in 1988.
