Pan Wołodyjowski (also known internationally as Colonel Wolodyjowski) is a 1969 Polish historical drama film directed by Jerzy Hoffman. It is an adaptation of the 1887 novel Pan Wołodyjowski by Henryk Sienkiewicz, the third and final part of his acclaimed Trylogia (Trilogy).
Production Details
The film was produced by the Zespół Realizatorów Filmowych "Kamera" in co-production with the Soviet studio Mosfilm. Filming began on 13 October 1967 and lasted nearly a year, with a budget of approximately 40 million Polish złoty. The screenplay was written by Jerzy Hoffman and Jerzy Lutowski. Cinematography was handled by Jerzy Lipman, music was composed by Andrzej Markowski, and editing was done by Alina Faflik.
Release
The film premiered on 28 March 1969 in Poland. Its running time is approximately 148–160 minutes depending on the version. It was a major box office success, drawing 12 million admissions in Poland.
Plot
The story is set in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1668 and 1673. Colonel Michał Wołodyjowski (Tadeusz Łomnicki), devastated by the death of his fiancée, abandons military service and enters a Camaldolese monastery. His longtime friend Jan Onufry Zagłoba (Mieczysław Pawlikowski) tricks him into leaving the monastery. Upon returning to active service under Hetman Jan Sobieski, Wołodyjowski becomes secretly engaged to Krystyna Drohojowska (Barbara Brylska), but learns she loves his friend Ketling (Jan Nowicki). He releases her from the engagement and marries Barbara "Basia" Jeziorkowska (Magdalena Zawadzka) instead.
Wołodyjowski is sent to command a border outpost in Chreptiów on the eastern frontier. There, a subordinate officer, Azja Tuhajbejowicz Mellechowicz (Daniel Olbrychski)—revealed to be the son of the Tatar khan Tuhaj-bej—attempts to kidnap Basia and defects to the Ottoman side. The film culminates in the siege of Kamieniec Podolski, where Wołodyjowski and Ketling blow up the fortress's fortifications and die rather than surrender.
Cast
- Tadeusz Łomnicki as Michał Wołodyjowski
- Magdalena Zawadzka as Barbara "Basia" Jeziorkowska-Wołodyjowska
- Mieczysław Pawlikowski as Jan Onufry Zagłoba
- Hanka Bielicka as Stolnikowa Makowiecka
- Barbara Brylska as Krystyna "Krzysia" Drohojowska
- Jan Nowicki as Ketling Hassling of Elgin
- Daniel Olbrychski as Azja Tuhajbejowicz Mellechowicz
- Marek Perepeczko as Adam Nowowiejski
- Irena Karel as Ewa Nowowiejska
- Mariusz Dmochowski as Hetman Jan Sobieski
- Władysław Hańcza as Old Nowowiejski
- Andrzej Szczepkowski as Bishop Lanckoroński
- Gustaw Lutkiewicz as Wachmistrz Luśnia
Filming Locations
Interior scenes were shot at the Łódź film studio. Exterior locations included the Pieskowa Skała Castle, churches in Kraków and Warsaw, the Bieszczady Mountains, the Chęciny Castle (which stood in for the Kamieniec Podolski fortress), and the Çufut Qale fortress in Crimea. The wooden Chreptiów outpost was built on Chodak hill between Lutowiska and Skorodne using 600,000 m³ of wood.
Awards and Reception
The film was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival, where Tadeusz Łomnicki won the Best Actor award. Jerzy Hoffman, Jerzy Lutowski, and Jerzy Lipman received the First Degree Award from the Minister of Culture and Art in 1969. The film also won the Złota Kaczka (Golden Duck) award from Film magazine for best Polish film of the year.
Critical reception was broadly positive, with particular praise for the cast performances, period-accurate costumes and set design, and the large-scale battle sequences involving thousands of extras and over 400 horses.
Related Works
A simultaneous black-and-white television serial titled Przygody pana Michała (The Adventures of Pan Michael), directed by Paweł Komorowski, was produced using the same sets and props. The serial consisted of 13 episodes and featured a different actor (Andrzej Łapicki) in the role of Ketling.
The film is the first part of Hoffman's cinematic adaptation of the Sienkiewicz Trilogy, followed by Potop (The Deluge, 1974) and Ogniem i mieczem (With Fire and Sword, 1999).
