Marta is the middle aged wife of a doctor in a small town. She has lost both her sons in the war and leads a monotonous life. Unknown to her she is also dying of lung cancer. One day she meets a lad who could be her son's age and feels physically attracted to him. But their riverside rendezvous ends in terrible tragedy.
Now the director Andrzej Wajda complicates this simple story by weaving in another dimension. The actress playing Marta was reluctant to work in the film because of her husband's chemotherapy. While the film's tragic sequence is being shot underwater, she receives the death of her husband. It is an interesting idea but fails to deliver the dramatic impact since most of the second story is related in a long monologue by the actress. Wajda actually ends up ruining the first story too by one disastrous act of cutting between film and reality.
A huge disappointment from the Polish master.
Now the director Andrzej Wajda complicates this simple story by weaving in another dimension. The actress playing Marta was reluctant to work in the film because of her husband's chemotherapy. While the film's tragic sequence is being shot underwater, she receives the death of her husband. It is an interesting idea but fails to deliver the dramatic impact since most of the second story is related in a long monologue by the actress. Wajda actually ends up ruining the first story too by one disastrous act of cutting between film and reality.
A huge disappointment from the Polish master.