Oscar-nominated swashbuckler The Deluge restored

Image: press materials

Based on a volume of a trilogy by Nobel Prize-winning author Henryk Sienkiewicz, the film follows the adventures of a group of nobles in war-torn 17th century Poland, in the spirit of Dumas' The Three Musketeers.

The Deluge (Potop), which originally premiered on 3 September 1974, has been painstakingly re-edited and restored under director Hoffman's supervision, with the two-part epic trimmed to 185 minutes.

The restoration, which is being released in Poland under the title of Potop Redivivus, was carried out by the National Film Archive.

“I thought that it was worth showing the restored film to everyone who could not see it in the cinema, especially to young people who only know The Deluge from television sets, VHS and DVDs,” Hoffman said, as cited by the Gdynia Film Festival's web site.

“But will the contemporary viewer want to spend over 5 hours in the cinema?

“Thus, I have recreated The Deluge in a three-hour version. The film lacks none of the most important threads, loses nothing of its readability, and it takes on an incredible speed at the same time.”

Michal Oleszczyk, artistic director of the festival has enthused that the film was the natural choice to open this year's event, reflecting that it is “a beautiful way” to honour the anniversary.

The 39th Gdynia Film Festival runs from 15 September to 20 September, and the film will go on general release on 3 October. A trailer of the restored film has been released by the distributors. (nh)

Source: festiwalgdynia.pl