''Wesele (The Wedding)'' is a motion picture made in 1972 in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

as an adaptation of a play by the same title written by

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas withi ...

in 1901. Wajda also directed "Wesele" for the theatre. "Wesele" is a defining work of Polish drama written at the turn of the 20th century. It describes the perils of the national drive toward self-determination after the Polish uprisings of November 1830 and January 1863, the result of the Partitions of Poland. It also refers to the

Galician slaughter The Galician Slaughter, also known as the Galician Rabacja, Peasant Uprising of 1846 or the Szela uprising (german: Galizischer Bauernaufstand; pl, Rzeź galicyjska or ''Rabacja galicyjska''), was a two-month uprising of impoverished Galicia ...

of 1846. The plot is set at the wedding of a member of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

intelligentsia (the Bridegroom, played by

Daniel Olbrychski Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is best known for leading roles ...

), and his peasant Bride (played by

Ewa Ziętek Ewa Ziętek (born 8 March 1953) is a Polish actress. She has made over 50 appearances in film and television. She starred in the 1978 comedy film '' What Will You Do When You Catch Me?''. References External links * 1953 births Actors fr ...

). Their class-blurring union follows a fashionable trend among friends of the playwright from the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

Young Poland Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Pol ...

movement. The play by Wyspiański was based on a real-life event: the wedding of

Lucjan Rydel Lucjan Rydel, also known as Lucjan Antoni Feliks Rydel (17 May 1870 in Kraków – 8 April 1918 in Bronowice Małe), was a Polish playwright and poet from the Young Poland movement. Life Rydel was the son of Lucjan Rydel, a surgeon, ophthalmolo ...

at the St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków and his wedding reception in the village of Bronowice. It was inspired in part also by the modernist painting of Jacek Malczewski and

Maksymilian Gierymski Maksymilian Dionizy Gierymski (1846 in Warsaw – 1874 in Reichenhall, Bavaria) was a Polish painter, specializing mainly in watercolours. He was the older brother of painter Aleksander Gierymski. As a seventeen-year-old boy, he particip ...

Plot

A poet marries a peasant girl in

. Their wedding reception follows. The celebration of the new marriage moves on from the city to the villager's house. In the rooms adjoining that of the wedding party, guests continually burst into arguments, make love, or simply rest from their merriment, dancing and feasting. Interspersed with the real guests are the well-known figures of Polish history and culture, who represent the guilty consciences of the characters. The two groups gradually begin a series of dialogues. The Poet (played by Andrzej Łapicki) is visited successively by the Black Knight, a symbol of the nation's past military glory; the Journalist (played by

Wojciech Pszoniak Wojciech Zygmunt Pszoniak (2 May 1942 – 19 October 2020) was a Polish film and theatre actor. Biography and career Pszoniak was born in Lwów, Nazi occupied Poland, now in Ukraine. He gained international visibility following Andrzej Wajda's 19 ...

), then by the court jester and conservative political sage Stańczyk; and the Ghost of

Wernyhora Wernyhora is a legendary 18th century Cossack bard ( bandurist) the fall of Poland and its subsequent rebirth and flourishing, "from Black to White sea". He has been a subject of several folklore tales and poems (particularly in the 19th cent ...

(Marek Walczewski), a paradigm of leadership for

. Wernyhora presents the Host with a golden horn symbolizing the national mission, and calls the Polish people to a revolt. One of the farm hands is dispatched to sound the horn at each corner of Poland, but he loses the horn soon after.

Cast

, groom (

) *

, bride *

Andrzej Łapicki Andrzej Łapicki (11 November 1924 – 21 July 2012) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1947 and 1999. He was married twice. His first marriage to Zofia Chrząszczewska lasted from 1947 to her death in 2005. He then mar ...

, poet (

Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (12 February 1865 – 18 January 1940) was a Polish Goral poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and writer. He was a member of the Young Poland movement. Life Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer was born in Ludźmierz in Po ...

) *

- journalist ( Rudolf Starzewski) and jester Stańczyk *

Franciszek Pieczka Franciszek Maksymilian Pieczka (18 January 1928 – 23 September 2022) was a Polish actor. A graduate of the National Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw (1954), he first made his debut in the theatre in Jelenia Góra. He won the award for Best ...

– Czepiec, '' gmina'' scribe (real person: Błażej Czepiec) * Marek Walczewski, host (

Włodzimierz Tetmajer Włodzimierz Tetmajer (December 31, 1861 in Harklowa – December 26, 1923 in Kraków) was a Polish painter with works in collections of the Warsaw National Museum and Kraków. Biography Włodzimierz Tetmajer was born in Harklowa near Krako ...

) * Izabella Olszewska, hostess * Maja Komorowska – Rachel * Marek Perepeczko – Jasiek *

Gabriela Kownacka Gabriela Anna Kownacka (née Kwasz) (25 May 1952, Wrocław – 30 November 2010, Warsaw) was a Polish film and stage actress, best known for playing in the Polish TV series '' Rodzina zastępcza''. Kownacka was a Lutheran. She has starred in ove ...

– Zosia *

Olgierd Łukaszewicz Olgierd Łukaszewicz (born 7 September 1946) is a Polish film actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films since his 1969 graduation from the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków. Between 2002 and 2005, he was the President of ...

- ghost ( Ludwik de Laveaux (painter)) *

Bożena Dykiel Bożena Dykiel () (born 26 August 1948) is a Polish theater and film actress. References External links * 1948 births Polish actresses Living people Polish stage actresses Polish film actresses Polish television actresses 20th-centu ...

– Kasia * Janusz Bukowski – Kasper * Artur Młodnicki – ghost of

* Wirgiliusz Gryń - vampire in the image of

Jakub Szela Jakub Szela (was born 14 July 1787, Smarżowa, in Galicia - died 21 April 1860, Dealul Ederii, in Bukovina, now Romania) was a Polish leader of a peasant uprising against the Polish gentry in Galicia in 1846; directed against manorial property a ...

* Leszek Piskorz – Staszek * Czesław Wołłejko – Hetman (

Franciszek Ksawery Branicki Franciszek Ksawery Branicki (1730–1819) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, French count, diplomat, politician, military commander, and one of the leaders of the Targowica Confederation. Many consider him to have been a traitor who participated wit ...

) * Mieczysław Voit – Jew, father of Rachel * Hanna Skarżanka – Klimina * Małgorzata Lorentowicz – Councilwoman () * Andrzej Szczepkowski – Nos ("nose", journalist ) * Emilia Krakowska – Marysia *

Mieczysław Stoor Mieczysław Stoor (5 September 1929 – 5 October 1973) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in 37 films between 1954 and 1973. Selected filmography * '' Boleslaw Smialy'' (1972) * '' Landscape After the Battle'' (1970) * '' Jak rozpętał ...

– Wojtek * Barbara Wrzesińska – Maryna *

Henryk Borowski Henryk Borowski (14 February 1910 in Płock - 13 November 1991 in Warsaw) was a Polish theater, radio and film actor.

– Grandfather *

Kazimierz Opaliński Kazimierz Opaliński (22 February 1890 – 6 June 1979) was a Polish stage and film actor. He appeared in more than forty films between 1936 and 1975. Selected filmography References External links * 1890 births 1979 deaths Polis ...

- Father * Maria Konwicka – Haneczka * Anna Góralska – Isia *

Mieczysław Czechowicz Mieczysław Czechowicz (28 September 1930 in Lublin – 14 September 1991 in Warsaw) was a Polish actor, one of the most famous of all time. Career A graduate of Warsaw's State Theatrical Academy ( Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna), Czechow ...

- Priest * Wiktor Grotowicz – Ghost accompanying Hetman *

Czesław Niemen Czesław Niemen (; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, and often credited as just Niemen, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century, singing ...

– Chochoł (fictional character) (literally straw wrap) (voice) and * „Kamionka” (folk band from Łysa Góra) * „Koronka” (folk band from

Bobowa Bobowa ( yi, בּאָבּאָוו, ''Bobov'') is a small town in Gorlice County, southern Poland. Administratively part of the Lesser Polish Voivodeship, it is situated west of Gorlice and south-east of the regional capital Kraków. It was for ...

) * „Opocznianka” (folk band

Opoczno Opoczno ) is a town in south-central Poland, in eastern part of Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a long and rich history, and in the past it used to be one of the most importa ...

)

Awards

* Silver Seashell Award at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wedding Polish drama films 1972 films Polish films based on plays 1970s Polish-language films Films directed by Andrzej Wajda

Plot

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links