Rating: NR
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 12/01/2003
SubTitles: English
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 100 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Vanguard Cinema
One of the most important figures in the Polish cinema, director
Andrzej Wajda, teams up with the nation's most famous filmmaking expatriate,
Roman Polanski, in this light
comedy based on a perennially popular stage farce by
Aleksandr Fredo.
Czesnik (
Janusz Gajos) and
Rejent (
Andrzej Seweryn) are the combative scions of two prominent families fallen on hard times, both of whom have the poor fortune of having homes which share a common courtyard.
Czesnik's niece
Klara (
Agata Buzek) has fallen in love with
Waclaw (
Rafal Krolikowski),
Rejent's son. However,
Rejent has promised his son to
Podstolina (
Katarzyna Figura), a beautiful widow who has attracted
Czesnik's eye. Meanwhile,
Papkin (
Roman Polanski), a former nobleman short on both cash and courage, hopes to wed
Klara, but as a neutral party in the feud between the two clans,
Klara thinks she might be able to use
Papkin for her own purposes to bring her together with
Waclaw. A major box-office hit in Poland,
Zemsta marked the first time
Wajda and
Polanski had worked together since
Pokolenie in 1952.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
