Pornography

Polish author Witold Gombrowicz was one of the most remarkable writers of the 20th century; this provocative adaptation of his third novel, which he described as “a descent to the dark limits of the conscience and the body” should win him new admirers. Set in Nazi-occupied Poland, Pornography (Pornografia) focuses on two middle-aged men: Frederic, a theater and film director, and Witold, a writer who serves as a wry commentator. The two journey out to the country estate of Hippolyte, a friend of Witold marginally involved in the resistance. There they encounter German soldiers and partisans, young lovers and even younger murderers, patriots and Catholics. Frederic will reveal an uncanny ability to hear clearly even distant and delicate sounds. Director Jan Jakub Kolski effectively finds the cinematic means to capture Gombrowicz’s abrupt changes of mood and tone and almost surreal juxtapositions, while anchoring the story in a very concrete time.