The duo’s picture impresses with its interpretive boldness and intellectual audacity, but what makes it truly unique is its cinematic form. The painstaking work of the 70 artists responsible for transforming film stills into painterly canvases allows us to enter the very centre of the extraordinary space in which the protagonists of Indian Summer, Storks and Four by Chełmoński, Peasant Coffin by Gierymski and Beet Harvest by Wyczółkowski meet. But the best thing about the Welchmans’ film is not the classical style, but the dynamic sequences pulsating with the excellent music by Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski, whose compositions will certainly end up on many playlists. The scene of the battle fought to defend the forest and, in particular, the beautiful scene of Boryna’s and Jagna’s wedding are artistic and musical gems that linger in the mind long afterwards.
The performances are also memorable. For before the characters were transformed into animated images, they were played in front of the camera by outstanding Polish actors, and the cast included such accomplished actors as Ewa Kasprzyk, Dorota Stalińska, Andrzej Mastalerz and Andrzej Konopka. But it is four of them who steal the show. Mirosław Baka is a moving Boryna, still vigorous but aware of his mortality. Robert Gulaczyk, discovered by the Welchmans, plays Antek, driven by passion and ambition. Kamila Urzędowska combines innocence and strength in the role of Jagna. Finally, true mastery is displayed by Sonia Mietielica, an outstanding young actress, one of the most talented of her generation, who, playing Hanka, fills the character with jealousy and grief, love and despair.
