Father of the Queen

(Ojciec królowej)


1979   >   comedy/costume/historical

A colorful historical “cloak and dagger” comedy.

Adaptation of the play by Jerzy Stefana Stawiński, an outstanding scriptwriter, co-author of the success of the Polish film school, author of screenplays for such masterpieces as “Kanał”, “Eroica” or “Pułkownik Kwiatkowski”.

Spectacular and unbelievably authentic cinematography thanks to shooting the film in the Wilanów palace and the castle in Pszczyna.

Superb performance of Anna Seniuk, Mariusz Dmochowski, Jan Englert and Emil Karewicz.

A French nobleman who arrives at the court of the king Jan III Sobieski with a secret mission falls prey to court intrigues and also falls … in love.

The second half of the 17th century. Cavalier de Charentes comes to Poland to take care of the heritage left by his grandmother who lived on the Eastern borderlands. His secret mission is to use all the available means to bring marquis d’Arquien, father of queen Mary, the wife of Jan III Sobieski back to France. The zealous nobleman tries to fulfill his task and gets increasingly entwined in political games and intrigues. His situation gets more and more complicated because of the reckless and daredevil ideas of the marquis but also because of the unexpected feelings he develops for the beautiful Helena, a Polish noblewoman who takes care of the crazy old man.

The film “Ojciec królowej” was originally to be made by Andrzej Munk, one of the most outstanding personalities in the Polish cinematography. However, lack of funds and the premature film director’s death in 1961 caused that the project landed on a shelf for 20 years.

 


Crew:

director
Wojciech Solarz
script
Jerzy Stefan Stawiński
d.o.p.
Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz
designer
Bolesław Kamykowski
costumes
Barbara Ptak
editor
Jerzy Pękalski
music
Maciej Małecki
cast
Jan Englert, Dorota Pomykała,
Ignacy Machowski, Anna Seniuk,
Mariusz Dmochowski, Ludwik Benoit
Materials: SD
Length: 106’