The film speaks about finding tracks, finding one's way. It's about discovering one's identity, discovering a link with the past in the chaos accompanying our lives and the shaky reality. Perhaps it is a film about how you have to stop in your tracks and look around you. Look back, to see where you're coming from, who you are, and what the point of it all is, says Krzysztof Piesiewicz.
Silence, a film about the 1990's, presents the world of techno culture, parties, drugs, a frivolous lifestyle. The protagonist is Mimi, who goes to parties organized at Forum Fabricum in Łódź, a well-known techno venue. In everyday life, Mimi works in business, as the sales manager for a cosmetic company, with a good car, fleeting affairs, and a daughter whom her family takes care of. One day Szymon comes into her life - a man from "another world", the world that remained unchanged after the historic transformation. Szymon is a freight train driver, focused on his duties, a quiet man from the ordinary crowd. The two characters represent two coexisting worlds that interpenetrate each other.
Mimi doesn't know they have met before - more than twenty years ago. Szymon unintentionally caused the accident in which Mimi's parents were killed. Ever since the accident, Szymon has been watching her, collecting photos and other personal objects, and now he slowly begins to encroach upon Mimi's life. The young woman resists this interference, but finally gives in. The changes in her life are superficial at first, but become more and more lasting over time.
The film revolves around the transformation of Mimi, her system of values and her image of the world; from chaos to order, from anarchy to harmony", says Michał Rosa. Her meeting with the unwitting cause of the disaster from years back allows her to return to the world of her brief, happy childhood, to find a point of reference. 'Silence' is a story about a journey into oneself that helps one find one's identity, and listen to one's own tone.
- Cisza, 2001. Directed by Michał Rosa, screenplay by Krzysztof Piesiewicz, director of photography: Arkadiusz Tomiak, production design by Przemysław Kowalski, costume design by Magdalena Maciejewska, music by Tomasz Stańko, producer: Juliusz Machulski. Featuring: Kinga Preis (Magdalena "Mimi"), Bartosz Opania (Szymon), Irena Burawska (Mimi's Grandmother), Grażyna Walasek (Workwoman), Magdalena Kuta (Stanisława, Workwoman), Ilona Ostrowska (Marta, Mimi's friend), Jolanta Fraszyńska (Jaga, Mimi's friend), Laura Konczarek (Ola, Mimi's Daughter), Mirosława Marcheluk (Ophthalmologist), Zuzanna Rezner (Young Mimi), Marek Kiemona (Young Szymon). Co-producer: Paweł Mossakowski (Canal+), Małgorzata Retej (Canal+), Marek Trojak (ITI Cinema), production: Studio Filmowe Zebra, co-production: Canal+ Polska, ITI Cinema (distribution). Duration: 93 min. Cinema premiere: October 26, 2001.
Film awards:
- 2001 - Best Director award for Michał Rosa and Best Actress Award for Kinga Preis at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia;
- 2002 - Eagle - Polish Film Award for 2001 for best actress for Kinga Preis; Ecumenical Jury Award for Michał Rosa at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Author: Joanna Pawluśkiewicz, December 2006