''Love Stories'' ( pl, Historie miłosne) is a 1997 Polish film about four men with unresolved romances.
Jerzy Stuhr
Jerzy Oskar Stuhr (; born 18 April 1947) is a Polish film and theatre actor. He is one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors. He also works as a screenwriter, film director and drama professor. He served as the Rector of th ...
plays all four characters and wrote and directed the film. The film is dedicated to
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993
–1994) ...
, who gave Stuhr important roles in his films. The film was selected as the Polish entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
70th Academy Awards
The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the show ...
, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Plot
The four characters played by Jerzy Stuhr all arrive at the same place at different times in different vehicles: a college professor in his own car, a priest in a taxicab, an army officer in a government vehicle and a prisoner in a police van accompanied by two police officers. As the opening credits roll, the four characters walk about the same building.
The professor collects the written exams of his students, and is surprised that one, Ewa Bielska, has written on hers, "I love you." He resists her advances but eventually gives in. For a crucial oral exam with the dean, Ewa asks for the professor's help, because she doesn't know anything at all. When the time comes, Ewa decides to resign, and the dean jokes with the professor that this is Poland, not America, and he wouldn't have been kicked out for having an affair with a student.
The priest is at the confessional when a young girl shows up claiming to be his daughter. Her story checks out: he knows her mother from
Radom
Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...
, 11 years ago. The mother died six years ago, the girl says. The girl returns to the orphanage she escaped from. Soon the parish learns but wants the priest to stay on. At the end, he decides to quit the church to be a father to his daughter.
The army officer, Colonel Matałowski of the
Polish Land Forces
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...
, goes home to a house where almost everything is under lock and key, even the fridge and he is estranged from his wife. An old love shows up, Tamara. They have drinks and talk about their love letters. His superiors disapprove of the affair because she's Russian. Matałowski sees her one last time, driving her to the train station.
The prisoner, Zdzisław Filip, is convicted of trafficking Pakistani heroin and sentenced to five years in jail and a fine of 5,000 zloty. As the police haul him away, he tells his wife Kryska to go to hell. Four years later, during a conjugal visit, Zdisław gives her directions to the buried cash by tapping on her back. Kryska finds the money, but instead of using it to pay Zdisław's fine, she tries to leave the country. Zdisław is upset but claims to have expected her to do that. Since he can't pay the fine, he has to spend another two years in jail.
All four characters wind up at one point seeing a man in an archives. The teacher and the colonel both go down an elevator and are left alone in a long corridor.
Cast
*
Jerzy Stuhr
Jerzy Oskar Stuhr (; born 18 April 1947) is a Polish film and theatre actor. He is one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors. He also works as a screenwriter, film director and drama professor. He served as the Rector of th ...
- The university teacher / The priest / Col. Jerzy Matałowski / Prisoner Zdzisław Filip / Petent
*
Dominika Ostałowska - Ewa Bielska - the student
*
Irina Alfyorova
Irina Ivanovna Alfyorova PAR[Karolina Ostrożna
Karolina may refer to:
People
*Karolina (name)
*Karolina (singer), singer/songwriter from Eilat, Israel Places
*Karolina, Łódź Voivodeship (central Poland)
*Karolina, Grodzisk Mazowiecki County in Masovian Voivodeship (east-central Poland)
*Kar ...](_blank)
- Magda Jarzębowska - Priest's Daughter
*
Katarzyna Figura
Katarzyna Małgorzata Figura (Polish pronunciation: ; born 22 March 1962) is a Polish film, theatre and television actress. She is sometimes billed as "Kasia Figura", as in ''Prêt-à-Porter'', Robert Altman's 1994 film.
Career
Figura was bor ...
- Kryśka - Zdzisław's wife
*
Jerzy Nowak
Jerzy Nowak (20 June 1923 – 26 March 2013) was a Polish film and theatre actor and teacher.
Biography
During World War II, Nowak fought with the Polish partisans. In 1948, he graduated from the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Art ...
- The Accountant
*
Andrzej Hudziak
Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew.
Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej
* Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer
* Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ma ...
- The Assistant Investigator
*
Jerzy Trela
Jerzy Józef Trela (14 March 1942 – 15 May 2022) was a Polish actor. In 2003 he starred in the film ''An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was a God'' under Jerzy Hoffman. He is also known for ''Three Colours: White, White'' (1994), ''Quo Vadis (2001 ...
- General
*
Katarzyna Łaniewska
Katarzyna Janina Łaniewska-Błaszczak (20 June 1933 – 7 December 2020) was a Polish theatre and film actress, opposition activist in the Polish People's Republic, and a political activist since 1989.
Biography
Both of Katarzyna Łaniewska's ...
- Filip's mother
*
Artur Barciś
Artur Barciś (; born 12 August 1956) is a Polish actor. His television appearances include Krzysztof Kieślowski's anthology series ''Dekalog'' (1989), the soap opera '' Aby do świtu...'' (1992), and '' Kurierzy'' ("Couriers"). From 2006 to 201 ...
- Lawyer
*
Sebastian Konrad
Sebastian Konrad (born December 11, 1971, in Oborniki
Oborniki (german: Obornik) is a town in Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about 30 km north of Poznań. It is the capital of Oborniki County and of Gmina Oborniki. Its populatio ...
- Assistant on the university
*
Krzysztof Stroiński
Krzysztof Stroiński (born 9 October 1950 in Pszczyna) is a Polish actor. He performed in more than forty films since 1971. He won the 2009 Polish Academy Award for Best Actor
The Polish Academy Award for Best Actor is an award given out at the ...
- Decan
Awards
''Love Stories'' won the Golden Lion award at the
Polish Film Festival
The Gdynia Film Festival (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland.
It has taken place every year sinc ...
,
'' Gdynia Film Festival - Laureates in 1997''
Official Website the Jury Prize and the Silver at the Festróia - Tróia International Film Festival, and the Grand Jury Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...
.
Jerzy Stuhr also picked up four of the five prizes he was nominated for at the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
.
DVD release
The MGE Region 1 DVD release is in "telewizorow" 4:3 aspect ratio. It has the bare minimum: scene access and English subtitles.
See also
*
*
References
External links
*
*
''Historie miłosne''
at the Polish Movie Database {{in lang, pl
1997 films
Polish drama films
1990s Polish-language films
1997 drama films
Films set in Poland
Films set in Warsaw