The year is 1988/89. Members of the executive bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are closely monitoring the growing socio-political situation of the People's Republic of Poland. Key decisions of the Round Table have not yet been taken, but the situation, at least from their point of view is clear - the time of communist rule in Poland has come to an end. A trusted agent has been given the task of copying the files of the State Security Service (SB), detailing information about the key players from both sides of the political barricades. She deposits the microfilms in a bank vault in Vienna. But the copyist, Captain Siejka (Krzysztof Stroiński), outsmarts them all. Along with a colleague, Captain Andrzej (Robert Więckiewicz), he develops a clever plan to steal the copies. To realise their plan,they need a young woman to impersonate the agent, go into the bank vault, and without raising the bankers' suspicion, steal the contents.
Tadeusz Król's film Zwerbowana Miłość (Love Recruited) follows Anna (Joanna Orleańska), a foreign-currency prostitute operating in one of Warsaw's top hotels. One day returning from a party, she crashes her car into Andrzej's Polonez. The officer does not want the military police to be involved, playing down the matter, in order to meet Anna again.
He introduces himself as a widower, looking for his place after the recent death of his wife, he willingly supports her in difficult situations. When she feels sick, he drives her to a doctor, who diagnoses her with leukemia. Anna can only count on herself and colleagues in the industry. Andrzej proposes a solution: to raise money for a foreign operation, she must accept to travel to Vienna on a false passport and make a deposit in one of the city's banks. Desperate, Anna agrees to the proposal. Meanwhile, the atmosphere thickens - the final discussions around the Round Table are approaching, and the SB is starting to blur the traces of its activities.
They need to hurry. But Anna discovers that information about her illness is part of an intricately planned plot. She also learns that Andrzej is married. What she does not know is that the officer has fallen in love with her.
Tadeusz Król, director and co-writer of the film explains that the film was based on real events that took place in 1989:
We spoke to the main characters of the events described, the scenario is almost a faithful record of their strange story. When we listened to the story coming out of the lips of the source of Andrzej, what struck us most is the fact that he spoke not only about the thread of political and criminal intrigue, but the of... love. Love lost and the machine of history. We also spoke to the character behind Anna. [We felt] the same grief. She never tried to look for Andrzej even though she knows everything...
If this were an American film, we would have a precise description of sensational intrigue, told by two special agents against their bosses. Meanwhile, the technical aspect takes second place, or even third, in the screenplay. Król and the rest of his team prefer to talk about feelings - about waiting for love, the birth of love, and finally, betrayal, manifested in different dimensions. This kind of display of emotion requires real artists. This is Król's drama film debut. In the leading roles are Joanna Orleańska and Robert Więckiewicz. For the latter this is the second, after Różyka by Jan Kidawa-Błoński, where he plays the role of a man caught up in history, who is looking for love in an emotional connection. In the case of Orleańska, this is a pleasant surprise - the young actress easily plays the role of a woman, who not only is open to true love, but can realistically evaluate and exploit opportunities brought about by fate. Her portrayal drew the attention of the jury of the Koszalin Debut Film Festival Młodzi i Film.
Zwerbowana miłość, Poland 2010. Directed by: Tadeusz Król, Screenplay: Tadeusz Król, Paweł Szlachetko, DOP: Tomasz Augustynek, Music: Agim Dżeljilji, Art Direction: Andrzej Rafał Waltenberger, Maria Duffek, Wardrobe: Agnieszka Werner-Szyrle, Editing: Aleksander Stefański, Sound: Artur Kuczkowski. Starring: Joanna Orleańska (Anna), Robert Więckiewicz (Andrzej), Krzysztof Stroiński (Siejka),Sonia Bohosiewicz (Elwira), Maria Seweryn (Helenka), Violetta Gaska (Ola), Agnieszka Mandat (Anna's mother). Production: MediaBrigade - FDR Studio - Grupa 13 - Divizion Studio Filmowe. Co-financed: Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej, Canal+ Polska. Duration:118 min. Distribution: Best Film. In cinemas from December 24, 2010.
Author: Konrad J. Zarębski, Translated by Roberto Galea, November 2010.