— HOW FAR FROM HERE, HOW CLOSE

DKF, psychological drama, Poland, from 15 years N 19712DO0001,

A forty-four-year-old man on his birthday goes to Warsaw to meet the ghosts of the past. In the next few dozen minutes, as in wartime, he is to execute the sentence on a traitor from the guerrilla period. Andrzej (A. Łapicki), a man on his 44th birthday, goes to Warsaw to meet the ghosts of the past. In the next few tens of minutes, he is to execute his sentence on a traitor from the guerrilla period. His wartime past still haunts him in the 1970s, and before his eyes they are like living former relatives: childhood friend Szlom, father on his deathbed, mother. At the march on May 1, he meets a liaison from the guerrilla period, Musa (M. Komorowska), in office — his first wife and others. He is accompanied by a fellow actor (Z. Maklakiewicz), and the theme uniting the whole thing is a series of meetings with his friend — suicide bomber Maks (G. Holoubek). He is the hero of the double ending. The film is the crowning achievement of Tadeusz Konwicki's original cinema, personal, set on the border between daydream and dream, sharing recurring motifs with his literature, including the view of the Palace of Culture and Science. The cast includes actors identified with Konwicki's original cinema, including the couple from “Zaduszek”, i.e. Edmund Fetting and Ewa Krzyżewska. The theme of the peculiar dance at the birthday party refers to the “Salta”. Among the co-creators, it is worth highlighting Stanisław Latałło, the cameraman responsible for special effects, the painting of a Jew carried to heaven by the devils and the etude “Holy Family”. As part of the Lubuskie Film Summer in Łagów (1972), the film won the Special Jury Prize, the Maja Komorowska Award for the leading female role, and Jerzy Wroński the Sound Award. The Film Critics Club of the Association of Polish Journalists appreciated the film Warsaw Mermaid. At the International Festival of Original Films in San Remo, Konwicki received the Special Prize for Screenplay (1973). Qualified for the Cannes festival, he did not get permission from the authorities to participate.