Nights and Days

(Noce i Dnie, 1975)

   Jerzy Antczaks faithful adaptation of Maria Dabrowska's revered epic novel. This melodramatic account of love between emotional and ambitious Barbara (Jadwiga Barańska) and down-to-earth Bogumił (Jerzy Binczycki) covers almost forty years, beginning in 1874. The film begins and ends with the outbreak of World War I, which destroys the tranquillity experienced in the past. The film deals with Barbara's reminiscences of her life and the theme of long-lasting love against all odds. Like Dabrowska's family saga, Antczak's film offers a nostalgic venture into the past and an evocation of life and models of behavior for the impoverished Polish gentry (szlachta). Nights and Days belongs to the group of Poland's biggest box-office successes. According to figures from 2000, it is ranked fifth on the list of the most popular films ever shown on Polish screens with 22.4 million viewers. Nights and Days also received critical acclaim: Antczak's film won the 1975 Festival of Polish Films, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1977 in the Best Foreign Language Film category, and Barańska and Binczycki received several acting awards. Jerzy Antczak also produced an equally popular television series of Nights and Days (thirteen episodes), which premiered on Polish television after the theatrical release of the film.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof