Boasting the career-high role of Leszek Herdegen, the film also features several other excellent actors, including Tadeusz Łomnicki.
The beautiful, pictorial visuals are a product of flawless camerawork and masterful production design.
A biopic of Aleksander Gierymski, the film focuses on the Warsaw period in the painter's life, during which he created his most valued works, including the famous "Jewess with Oranges".
In the 1880s, after spending years abroad, painter Aleksander Gierymski returns to Warsaw. He successfully enters the capital's art world, which is dominated by aristocracy and bourgeoisie. However, Gierymski develops an interest in positivism and abandons the popular, classical themes to create a series of paintings depicting the life of the Warsaw underclass. Not suiting the current trends, they are denounced as vulgar and worthless. The painter loses his source of income and social standing. He gradually descends into mental illness.
The film was made with exceptional visual intuition owing to the visual arts education received by its creators: director Konrad Nałęcki, cinematographers Romuald Kropat and Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz, and costume designer Antoni Uniechowski.
Among the film's most memorable moments are the scenes recreating the paintings of Aleksander Gierymski.
The script is based on Stanisław Witkiewicz's memoirs and Gierymski's correspondence, which offered productive insight into the artist's mentality and personal life.
