''Silence'' () is a 2001 Polish film directed by Michal Rosa from a

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

by Rosa and

Krzysztof Piesiewicz Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz (; born 25 October 1945 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish lawyer, screenwriter, and politician. From 1991 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011 he was a member of Polish Senate. He was the head of the Social Movement (RS) or Soci ...

. Rosa was named best director for the film at the 2001

Polish Film Festival The Gdynia Film Festival aka FPFF (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland. It has taken place every ...

. Actress

Kinga Preis Kinga Anna Preis (born 31 August 1971) is a Polish actress. She is six-time Polish Film Awards–winner: four times for Polish Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actress in ''Tuesday'' (2001), ''In Darkness (2011 film), In ...

won Best Actress at both the

and the

2002 Polish Film Awards The 2002 Polish Film Awards ran on March 9, 2002, at Royal Palace, Warsaw. It was the 4th edition of Polish Film Awards: Eagles. Awards winners Special awards * Life Achievement Award: Tadeusz Konwicki * Special Award: Agnieszka Holland, ...

. The film was also nominated for

Polish Film Awards The Eagles Polish Film Awards, or The Eagles () is the national film award of Poland. It has been delivered annually since 1999, with the first event held on 21 June, by the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers (KIPA). Since 2003 they have b ...

for its

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

and its

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

. ''Cisza'' is one of several Polish films released in 2001 with a religious theme. According to Piesiewicz, ''Cisza'' was intended as the first of eight films intended to "synthesize the last 20 years of Polish history." The series was to be called ''Naznaczeni'' (''Predestined'').

Plot

The film begins in 1978 in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

when a young boy Szymon accidentally causes a deadly car crash while playing pranks with his friends. The scene then jumps forward 22 years, when Szymon, now portrayed by Bartosz Opania becomes friendly with Mimi, played by Preis. Mimi's parents had been killed in the car crash 22 years earlier and Mimi herself had survived the crash. The relationship forces Mimi to face the issues from her past and her attitude to her own daughter, while Szymon attempts to relieve the guilt he feels by watching over and trying to protect Mimi.

Reception

Film critic Andrew James Horton claims that the film's "portrayal of a woman falling in love with her stalker will be morally sickening and insensitive and outweigh Piesiewicz' otherwise worthy aims." But author Steven Woodward points out that the same could be said about some other films cowritten by Piesiewicz, such as ''

A Short Film About Love ''A Short Film About Love'' () is a 1988 Polish romantic drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, starring Grażyna Szapołowska and Olaf Lubaszenko. Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film is about a young post office work ...

'' and ''

The Double Life of Veronique ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (, ) is a 1991 drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, and starring Irène Jacob and Philippe Volter. Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film explores the themes of identity, love, and h ...

'', and that Cisza "aspires to the

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

of ''The Double Life of Veronique''.

Cast

as Magdalena "Mimi" * Bartosz Opania as Szymon * Zuzanna Rezner as Magda * Marek Kimona as Szymon * Ilona Ostrowska * Irena Burawska * Magdalena Kuta as Stanisława * Laura Konczarek as Ola * Wojciech Wasasik * Piotr Kopczyński * Wojciech Kalarus *

Przemysław Rezner Przemysław () is a Polish Slavic given name, meaning someone who is clever or ingenious. It is derived from another Polish name Przemysł, cognate to Czech Přemysl. Its diminutive forms include Przemek (the most popular one), Przemuś (hypocor ...

* Jolanta Fraszyńska * Sylwia Juszczak * Jerzy Matula

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0295200, Silence 2001 films Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Piesiewicz Films directed by Michal Rosa 2000s Polish-language films Polish drama films 2001 drama films Films set in Łódź