The story told by Waldemar Krzystek's film did not happen, although it could have done. In the early 1960s a new grave appeared at the cemetery in Legnica, the town where the Northern Group of the Red Army was headquartered and which was home to the biggest Soviet garrison in Poland. The locals said that it was the grave of a Russian woman, called by them 'a slave of love', and the story was that, enamoured with the Polish language and culture, she struck a love affair with a Polish soldier, but, unable to fulfill her love, committed suicide. Krzystek used this story as a basis for the screenplay, moving the plot to late 1967 and early 1968, with the culminating point taking place when the Warsaw Pact armies entered Czechoslovakia in order to quell the 'Prague Spring'.
A former Russian military pilot, accompanied by his adult daughter, arrives in present-day Legnica to extend the lease of the grave of his wife who had died in Poland. The visit brings back painful memories. The pilot had come to Legnica in 1967. His wife, who came with him, got fascinated with Poland and ... Polish men. She succumbed to the charm of a Polish officer, becoming his lover and giving birth to his child. The Polish officer loved her so much that, not having the necessary pass, he would don a Soviet uniform to enter the isolated military zone in which his beloved was staying. The behaviour of the lovers inevitably leads to a tragedy: when checks get tighter in emergency - in connection with the intervention in Czechoslovakia - the Polish lieutenant is stopped found wearing a Red Army uniform, and his Russian lover, who wants to divorce her husband and marry the Pole, is passed on to the Soviet security service. What remains is the fruit of their love: a woman, now grown up, who was raised by her mother's husband and who hates her mother with all her might. That is, until she learns the whole story...
Mała Moskwa / The Little Moscow can be viewed from several perspectives: as a melodrama about fulfilled, though impossible, love, or as a political film showing lives which have been degraded by the pressure of the totalitarian regime, or as a denunciatory picture revealing the truth about the official declarations of Soviet-Polish friendship. This is how Krzystek himself described his intention in an interview for the magazine "Kino" (11/2008):
"Rather than being a political statement, 'Mała Moskwa' asks the question about the right of the system, the ideology, to decide about man's life. In times of censorship a number of issues were smuggled in films, books and some of the magazines, but not this one: that Russian troops are stationed in post-1945 Poland, the Russians have their airports here, their families live here, Russian schools are being opened, specific Russian towns are being established. It seemed to me that this grey area should be addressed. My film shows that the silences hide unspoken of human tragedies. For a long time our filmmakers could not afford a film which would give an intimation of Russia's military power. I believe it is better to leave an issue alone if it cannot be addressed in full. It was not until now that adequate resources have been found. And there was another reason why I wanted this film to be made. Andrzej Wajda once said that you need to make films which nobody will make for us. I realized that I was the one to make a film like that. After all, I was raised two hundred meters away from the Soviet district in Legnica. Children always know one another, so I came to know the Russians, they were my playmates. Sometimes I even went to their homes, looked at their lives. Interestingly, living in Poland was changing them: first they changed their dress, then their thinking."
Krzystek's film is painfully true to the spirit of those times, showing two separate, though intermingling, communities, as well as Legnica, the town in the area recovered from Germany after World War II in which Poles, Russians and Germans lived side by side under the ethical code and cruel pressure of the totalitarian system which was capable of breaking individuals as well entire nations.
Mała Moskwa owes its credibility chiefly to the superb cast, including Svetlana Khodchenkova as Vera, Lesław Żurek as Michał, and a group of excellent Russian actors. Tomasz Dobrowolski's camerawork catches a lot of meaningful detail so that the film, while retaining its high-quality melodramatic character, turns into a knowledge-packed historical picture and a milestone of change. After all, it has been less than twenty years that Russian troops left Poland.
Shown at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, Mała Moskwa provoked a lot of controversy as well as sparking off a debate on the point of organizing such across-board festivals. Despite that, the film and its producers were awarded the Grand Prix, Golden Lions, as well as the prizes of the Programme Council and Chairman of the Board of Polish Television. And Svetlana Khodchenkova was named the Festival's best actress.
- Mała Moskwa / The Little Moscow, Poland 2008. Written and directed by Waldemar Krzystek, photography: Tomasz Dobrowolski, art director: Tadeusz Kosarewicz, costume designer: Małgorzata Zacharska, editing: Marek "Mulny" Mulica, sound: Wacław Pilkowski. Starrring: Svetlana Khodchenkova (two roles: Vera and Vera's daughter), Lesław Żurek (Michał), Dmitri Ulyanov (Yura), Yuri Itskov (political officer), Alexei Gorbunov (KGB major), Artem Tkachenko (Sayat), Elena Leshchtinska (Nane), Przemysław Bluszcz (Bala), Henryk Niebudek (priest). Produced by Skorpion Art, Banana Split Polska, Telewizja Polska - Agencja Filmowa, co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, Lower Silesian Governor's Office, Legnica Town Hall. Distribution: Syrena Films. Duration: 114 min. Released 28th November 2008.
Author: Konrad J. Zarębski, November 2008
Awards:
- 2008 - Grand Prix - Golden Lions, Polish Television Programme Board Award, Polish Television Chairman of the Board Award for Waldemar Krzystek and Best Actress in a Leading Role Award for Svetlana Khodchenkova at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.