1971-1980 Drama Janusz Morgenstern Poland

Janusz Morgenstern – Trzeba zabic te milosc AKA To Kill This Love (1972)

adminJanuary 6, 2023

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Warsaw, the start of the 1970s. Two young people in love, Magda and Andrzej, are struggling not only with financial and housing problems but also with their feelings for each other. Their love is tested when confronted with the cynicism not only of older people but also of Andrzej, who plays according to the brutal rules of a game where nothing but money and connections matters, even though he believes he’s doing it in order to salvage his relationship with Magda.

With this contemporary melodrama based on a script by the acclaimed writer and playwright Janusz Glowacki, director Janusz Morgenstern closed his ‘love trilogy’. This began with his cheerful, lyrical debut Goodbye, See You Tomorrow (1960) and continued with Jowita (1967), a more down to earth film that nonetheless still had a romantic heroine. But To Kill This Love, though not entirely pessimistic and with some humor, is much more bitter in tone. However, it is mercifully free from the moralizing that was very common in teenage films of that time, and remains very true to life.

Magda and Andrzej’s tempestuous romance is accompanied by a parallel story of another difficult love: that of a local janitor (played by acclaimed amateur actor Jan Himilsbach) and a stray dog.

Morgenstern shows genuine virtuosity in his modern film language, visible in staging, cinematography and editing. He created a great melodrama, and also discovered the acting talents of Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieslak, who made her big-screen debut as Magda.