Love At Twenty retrospective: Zbigniew Cybulski

Cast:
Zbigniew Cybulski (Zbyszek), Barbara Kwiatkowska (Basia), Władysław Kowalski (Władek), Jan Englert (kolega Basi), Marian Opania (Misiek), Christian Doermer (Tonio), Barbara Frey (Ursula), Koji Furuhata (Hiroshi), Cristina Gaioni (Christina)

The film is composed of five novels, directed by distinguished directors from France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Poland. Critics believe that it is the last part by Andrzej Wajda which makes this international project so special. The project's aim was to show how young people in different countries experience love. Wajda's concept for the film was based on a real event. There was an accident in a zoo in Wrocław. A child fell into an enclosure for polar bears. It was rescued by an unknown man, who walked away unnoticed after saving the child. In the film by Wajda the rescuer is played by Zbigniew Cybulski. The courageous man attracts the attention of a young girl named Basia, who is taking a walk in the zoo with her boyfriend. Charmed by his deed, she invites Zbyszek to a party. However, it soon turns out that a careless student and an older man who experienced war, do not have much in common. The film had its premiere in Berlin in 1962. It was screened in Poland three years later.

Beata Cyganek