A faithful adaptation of a novel written by the Nobel Prize winner Władysław Reymont, showing the life in the Polish village at the end of the 19th century. The film is a cinema version of the TV series, its action takes place in subsequent seasons of the year, according to the chronological order of the novel. Dynamic and colorful picture offering an intriguing presentation of the national folklore, customs, beliefs and prejudice as well as relations between people and peasants’ worries. Spectacular performance of many superb actors.
Part I “Boryna”
Maciej Boryna, a widower and one of the wealthiest famers in Lipce decides to marry a much younger Jagna, who is considered a village beauty. The father’s decision is opposed by his children: Antek, who lives in his father’s house together with his wife and Boryna’s daughter – the blacksmith’s wife. There’s a quarrel followed by a punch-up, as a result of which Antek and Hanka leave the father’s house. Antek has had an affair with Jagna for a longer time. The old Boryna throws a splendid wedding party and brings his young spouse to his house. In the meantime, the young Boryna and Hanka struggle to make ends meet. Antek still meets Jagna in secret. One day Maciej catches them red-handed in a hay stack. Furious, he sets the hay stack on fire and the lovers barely escape alive. The heir decides to sell the forest that the inhabitants of Lipce have been using for ages. Tree cutting begins. Maciej stands at the helm of the rioting peasants. They go to chase the wood cutters away from the forest, which leads to a fight, during which Antek kills one of the wood cutters to protect his father. The peasants are arrested and put in jail. The old Boryna is seriously ill. He wants to bring Hanka with the children back to his farm and tells them about the money he had stashed away. He asks her to do her best to free Antek.
Part II “Jagna”
The arrested peasants return to the village. Unfortunately Antek hasn’t been freed and faces a heavy sentence for killing the wood cutter. Hanka is in charge of Boryna’s farm. A conflict between her and Jagna escalates as the latter one would rather return to her mother who won’t have her back for fear her daughter may lose the farm. Jagna is very lonely. She gets involved in an affair with the local administrator. Hanka manages to get her husband free. Jagna becomes a public enemy; the whole village hates her. Eventually, she is taken on a cart carrying a heap of manure out of the village.
