Roman and Magda

(Roman i Magda)


1979   >   action/ psychological/ drama

A moral action drama showing a crisis and breakup of a married couple from the perspective of the both spouses, Roman and Magda. Through flashbacks the film reveals a shocking study of the disintegration of the relationship between two adult people and their gradual dehumanization.

Provoked by its driver, Roman chases after a white Volvo, in result of which the car skids off the road. Not hurt, Roman doesn’t even try to seek or identify the perpetrator. He sees the incident as a consequence of other events. When he comes back home, he checks the mailbox. He puts one of the envelopes in his pocket. For some time now he has been receiving anonymous letters. He tries to hide his fear and anxiety about it before his wife. During sleepless nights he keeps analyzing the situations and cases in which he has harmed other people. The list is quite long. He is partially responsible for his friend’s disability, he abandoned his girlfriend when she was pregnant, broke up his friend’s marriage and didn’t help a friend when he was applying for a scholarship. The anonymous letters could come from a whole bunch of people. His reflections about it lead him nowhere. Depressed and helpless, he decides to visit his parents. Unfortunately, he can’t communicate with them. When he gets back home, he sees a white Volvo parked nearby. He starts panicking, is afraid of an assault. When the lights suddenly go out on the staircase and he hears footsteps, he is convinced that he will get attacked. He throws himself at an approaching man and pushes him off over the railing of the stairs. It turns out that by mistake he has killed his intellectually impaired neighbor. Magda examines the respective stages of their dying-out relationship. She seeks consolation with subsequent lovers. She desperately tries to save their feeling. She was the author of the anonymous letters. Now that her husband is charged with murder, he will definitely need her.


Crew:

director
Sylwester Chęciński
script
Ireneusz Iredyński
d.o.p.
Andrzej Ramlau
designer
Tadeusz Kosarewicz
editor
Krzysztof Osiecki
music
Piotr Figiel
cast
Wiesława Mazurkiewicz, Andrzej Seweryn,
Mieczysław Pawlikowski, Marzena Trybała,
Ewa Wiśniewska, Dorota Stalińska
Materials: SD
Length: 87’