An action film which is also a clear work of propaganda. The criminal plot turns out to be just a pretext for presenting the ideological transformation of the main character, who based on the experiences he goes through becomes a valuable citizen of communist Poland. The strongly overdone anticlerical motif reflecting the state’s policy towards the Church at the time is particularly striking.
A screen adaptation of a novel of the same title by Tadeusz Breza.
The film features an interesting performance by Nina Andrycz, the great diva – and scandalist – of the Polish stage, who very rarely appeared on the big screen.
A few years after the end of World War II, engineer Andrzej Uriaszewicz and his cousin Joanna, a famous prima ballerina back in the day, return to Poland. The man’s goal is to transport abroad and sell a valuable painting called “Balthazar’s Feast”, which is hidden in the ruins of a pre-war factory. Together with his old friend Haza, Andrzej makes it to the hiding place, which turns out to be empty. He decides to find the painting regardless of the costs. During the search, the man becomes increasingly involved in everyday life in his country, which is being rebuilt after the war. He also falls in love with Joanna’s beautiful and talented student Halina. Eventually, Andrzej abandons his plans. He starts working in a newly launched port, earns his colleagues’ respect and starts a relationship with Halina. This is where Haza, who has to flee from Poland due to crimes he committed years ago, finds him.
The painting the two main characters are trying to sell never existed. It is a fictitious masterpiece which Tadeusz Breza invented for the sake of the plot by combining the name of Paolo Veronese with a popular painting motif used by Rembrandt, among others.
