POLISH FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
ZNACHOR
2023 / 140 min / color
Michał Gazda’s film is the most recent adaptation of the 1937 novel by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz. It’s an important text for Polish film: it was previously brought to the big screen by acclaimed directors such as Michał Waszyński and Jerzy Hoffman. The protagonist of Forgotten Love is a respected surgeon, Professor Rafal Wilczur (Leszek Lichota plays the iconic character), a man who loses almost everything he owns as a consequence of a single incident. After being attacked and severely beaten by bandits, he experiences amnesia, losing both his beloved family and his memory. Not knowing who he is, he wanders around the countryside, taking up odd jobs. He does, nonetheless, get the opportunity to use his skills and talents, and the locals come to see him as a great healer. But his new life gets unexpectedly intertwined with his past, with his beloved daughter as the common denominator. Produced for Netflix and brought to life with great panache, Forgotten Love is an attempt to confront the legend of Professor Wilczur; it’s an important voice in the discussion about whether it makes sense to “rewrite” such highly revered film classics. The enthusiastic response to the film, in Poland and beyond, and especially to Leszek Lichota’s lead performance, seems to be a strong argument in its favor.
Director
Michał Gazda
Screenplay
Marcin Baczyński, Mariusz Kuczewski
Cinematography
Tomasz Augustynek
Music
Paweł Lucewicz
Cast
Leszek Lichota, Maria Kowalska, Ignacy Liss, Anna Szymańczyk, Izabela Kuna
Country
Poland
Language/Subtitles
Language: Polish
Subtitles: English