The Linnet

I am giving this film such a high rating because it is very original and unique, and I remember it well years after watching it. It is a co-production of two personalities: Witold Leszczynski and Edward Redlinski who both specialized in rural subjects. For me, watching this movie was like a sentimental journey to my childhood in the Polish village in the 1960s. There was no electricity or running water. I remember oil lamps, the interiors of huts hung with holy images and catholic masses where the priests spoke Latin instead of my native Polish. But then came tractors and the first TV set in the village school, where half of the village's population watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the Moon in 1969. So my experiences somehow parallel the settings of the film "Konopielka". The name "Konopielka" in some ways hints folk tales about a nymph who shows herself to some simple peasant who dreams of higher things. So the plot has both realistic and symbolic meaning. Kaziuk (great role of Krzysztof Majchrzak) is more realistic, but the Teacher Jola has some strong symbolic undertones, meaning the progress. The film is visually stunning, and I felt transported to my childhood in the 1960s: snowy forests or sweltering summers. To me, the plot was lively, entertaining, and sometimes very funny. For example, when the supposedly wise old man (played by great Franciszek Pieczka) says to Kaziuk "don't cut the corn with a scythe, use a sicle" it may have some more meaning, like ridiculing the rural tradition or the teachings of the catholic church. So except being fun, everyone can find something interesting and memorable in "Konopielka".