Alina Jurewicz

A family saga of Barbara Ostrzeńska-Niechcic and Bogumił Niechcic against the backdrop of the January Uprising of 1863 and World War I. The film is a rather straightforward and faithful adaptation of a novel by Maria Dabrowska with the same title. The plot is woven around the changing fortunes of a noble (upper-class) Niechcic family in the pre-WWI Poland. There are two main crossing threads: a social history one and an existential one.

Retired police captain Siwy recounts to a reporter how he undertook a final, private investigation into the suspicious death of Ewa Salm, known as “Princess.” Though her testimony had secured a conviction, Siwy doubted the man’s guilt and set out to uncover the real killer—risking his own life to see justice done.

Mister Anatol investigates a gang of thieves looking after a young woman who has just won a lottery.

By a twist of fate, a Warsaw crook becomes a translator at a reunion of high school graduates in a small town. There he learns about a treasure buried by the participants of the ceremony. The film, completed in 1972 was shelved by the censors and believed lost until it was found and finally released in 2009.