Veteran director Majewski brings swing back to Poland with 'The Eccentrics'
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
16.09.2015 20:30
Veteran director Janusz Majewski had his audience in stitches on Wednesday during the premiere of new movie 'The Eccentrics' at the 40th Gdynia Film Festival.
Natalia Rybicka and Maciej Stuhr in 'The Eccentrics'. Photo: press materials/Marcin Makowski
Set in the late 1950s during the thaw that followed the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Majewski's comedy unfolds in a rundown Polish spa town where nothing is quite what it seems.
Former WWII soldier Fabian (Maciej Stuhr) returns to Poland from the UK with the unshakeable desire to launch a swing band.
He puts together an unlikely mishmash of players, including a leading lady whose background appears to be as much of a riddle as his own.
Speaking to the audience following Wednesday's screening, 84-year-old Majewski recalled how he came of age in Kraków after the war listening to the forbidden sonic fruits of American radio stations.
“For me and my generation that music was nothing short of a religion,” he said, noting that in spite of the enduring stereotypes of a grim communist reality, young Poles found ways to express themselves.
The Gdynia Film Festival provides the key annual showcase of new Polish movies, and 'The Eccentrics' is one of 18 films competing in the main competition this year, with the coveted 'Golden Lions' as the ultimate prize.
The awards will be handed out on Saturday 19 September. (nh/rk)