The story of charismatic painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who opposed social realism and maintained his own artistic freedom in spite of political obstacles.The story of charismatic painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who opposed social realism and maintained his own artistic freedom in spite of political obstacles.The story of charismatic painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who opposed social realism and maintained his own artistic freedom in spite of political obstacles.
- Awards
- 1 win & 12 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOfficial submission of Poland for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.
- Quotes
Wladyslaw Strzeminski: They praise the ones who suck up. They're silent about the real artists.
Julian Przybos: I spoke about this with Milosz. He also believes that an artist who can't speak with a full voice should be silent. Artists can be killed in two ways: either by talking about them too much or not at all.
- ConnectionsReferences Man of Marble (1977)
- SoundtracksLandscape
Written by Andrzej Panufnik
Performed by Narodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia w Katowicach
Conducted by Piotr Komorowski
The sustained official campaign of death by a thousand cuts inflicted on Strzemiński strongly recalls that depicted in Wajda's earlier 'Rough Treatment' (1978), to which 'Afterimage' often feels like a prequel. The earlier film, however, was an angry, brutally contemporary film, while 'Afterimage' - while vividly conveying the Orwellian nightmare that was Stalinist Poland - is a much mellower piece recalling the far-off days of Wajda's youth with a grace and energy wholly belying his astonishing age; and Andrzej Mularczyk's script gleams throughout with flashes of wry black humour. The film has few out and out villains, with most of Strzemiński's persecutors sympathetic but powerless to resist.
The jagged widescreen photography of Pawel Edelman and design by Marek Warszewski simultaneously evoke the monochromatic drabness of life under communism while often looking vaguely expressionistic, with odd flashes of colour skilfully deployed. (A particular visual highlight is the priceless scene early on in which his studio is saturated with red light from a banner of Stalin erected directly outside his window, to which his already characteristic response is guaranteed to get him into trouble.)
Bogusław Linda's performance as Strzemiński would be impressive enough even without the remarkable technical feat he accomplishes of nipping about on crutches minus his left arm and left leg, while Bronislawa Zamachowska is tremendous as his equally resilient and bloody-minded daughter Nika; truly a chip off the old block.
- richardchatten
- Mar 25, 2017
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $33,443
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,832
- May 21, 2017
- Gross worldwide
- $1,032,768
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1