January 2023: Director of the Month - Andrzej WajdaIn Wajda's 1980 film, an internationally-famous conductor's return to his Polish hometown cracks open the marital tension of a provincial conductor and his violinist wife. An interesting premise but doesn't fully work. It could be seen as a metaphor for how the rigid Communist bureaucracy quashes the creativity and vibrancy of the Polish people, especially in the arts. But the emphasis on melodrama and a faulty script prevent it from fully realizing the analogy except at the very end.The film opens in New York City where the wife Marta (Krystyna Janda) has a chance meeting with the elderly maestro John Lasocki (John Gielgud) conducting at Lincoln Center. Lasocki had been her mother's lover many years ago and the meeting inspires him to follow Marta to the small Polish town where her husband Adam (Wajda regular Andrzej Seweryn) conducts a provincial orchestra. A decision to have Lasocki conduct in his hometown turns into an opportunity for the Communist authorities to use the concert as a way to showcase Poland's cultural superiority.Wajda contrasts Lasocki's genuine joy in music and the benevolence he shows to the local musicians with Adam's controlling and mechanical approach, as well as how he abuses his musicians. Marta represents the people who yearn for expressive freedom. She welcomes and idealizes Lasocki and becomes more fully aware of Adam's limitation and selfish ambition. The film builds to a crescendo where the performance is hijacked by the machinations of the state and Adam, with tragic results for all.Gielgud is both an inspired and faulty choice for Lasocki. His British eloquence is just wrong for the part (even though his acting can't be faulted). Even worse, when he speak in Polish, the dubbed voice is totally unlike Gielgud's and this is distracting. Also Adam's tyrannical approach to his orchestra and his cruelty to Marta is overly exaggerated. I also would've liked Marta's character to be more fully drawn, as compared to the two men. Still there's some lovely and creative moments that Wajda and the performers bring to the film. But as a whole, it's uneven.
