Richard J. Brzostek - 01/17/2012 
I consider Henryk Szaro to be among the best directors of Polish cinema during the prewar era. His life was cut short in 1942 when the Germans shot him, but Polish cinema as it existed before the war also died when the war erupted. Almost no one that worked in film had a place in cinema once Poland was under Soviet occupation, so it is unlikely Szaro would have ever made films again like the ones made before the war.
Although I do not consider Landowner (Ordynat Michorowski) to be one of Henryk Szaro's best films, it is a drama worth watching for those who enjoy prewar Polish movies. As with many films from the 1930s the characters are Counts, Dukes and Baronesses, which are not really your typical people by any means.
Ordynat Michorowski (1937) is the sequel to Tredowata (1936), with Franciszek Brodniewicz again playing the role of Duke Waldemar Michorowski. Waldemar is very depressed and is always thinking of his deceased fiancé Stefcia Rudecka. The only person that can bring him out of his sullenness is his cousin Lucia Elzonowska (Tamara Wiszniewska). In a delirious state, Waldemar proclaims his love to Lucia (thinking she is Stefcia). Lucia is quite thrilled by his proclamation, as she had feelings for him all along. Now that she knows of his love, she realizes how much she loves him.
But the drama is much more complicated than that. Waldemar's friend Bohdan (Wojciech Wojtecki) is in love with Lucia. Furthermore, another Count wants to marry Lucia for her family fortune. So between a man she loves but doesn't love her back, a man that loves her but she doesn't know it, and a man that loves her money, we have quite a drama. I can only say this movie has some surprises, but you will have to see for yourself the way the story ends. |
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