Hunting Flies (1969 film)
- 19 August 1969 (1969-08-19)
Hunting Flies (Polish: Polowanie na muchy) is a 1969 Polish comedy film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
Plot
Włodek (Zygmunt Malanowicz) is a young man who is stuck in a boring job in a library. He lives in a small apartment with his wife, son and in-laws. His family life is oppressive due to constant nagging by his wife, who wants to move to a bigger apartment. His father-in-law has an obsession with flies. His son is glued to the television set. Włodek's life changes when he meets a young woman, Irena (Małgorzata Braunek), who fascinates him with her striking appearance and impressive vocabulary. They set off on a short trip together. Their affair is more intellectual than physical. Irena seeks to control Włodek and make him a successful man as imagined by her. Włodek manages to regain control of his life just in time.
Cast
- Zygmunt Malanowicz - Włodek
- Małgorzata Braunek - Irena
- Ewa Skarzanka - Hanka, Włodek's wife
- Hanna Skarzanka - Hanka's mother
- Józef Pieracki - Hanka's father
- Daniel Olbrychski - Sculptor
- Irena Dziedzic - Journalist
- Leszek Drogosz - Militiaman
- Jacek Fedorowicz - Director
- Marek Grechuta - V.I.P.'s Son
- Irena Laskowska - Editor's Wife
- Julia Bratna - Girl
- M. Ziólkowski - Boy
- Leon Bukowiecki - Editor
- Krzysztof Burnatowicz
Reception
The film, when released, was well received by some critics, which led to its being shortlisted for the Palme d'Or at Cannes. However, the portrayal of women in the film came in for adverse comments. One critic remarked: "the film's stale misogyny doesn't reflect well on [Wajda] ..."[2] Accepting the criticism, Andrzej Wajda wrote later: "I willingly accepted Janusz Glowacki's film script without giving it much thought. Driven by frustration of temporary personal misadventures, I decided to settle the score with women who try to control men's lives. ... Unfortunately, my faculties were dimmed by my temporary disgust with women ... I lacked clear judgement and had to pay for it. ... what resulted was a fairly colourless film."[3]
Hunting Flies has attracted critical attention as a film which is atypical of Wajda's work. As a 2016 reviewer writes: "With Hunting Flies Andrzej Wajda clearly deviated from his usual style and gave us a satiric bitter-sweet picture of young adults being trapped in various social deals, family issues, class system (still visible) – just like eponymous flies stuck to a flypaper."[4]
References
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Hunting Flies". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
- ^ Shen, Ted. "Hunting Flies". chicagoreader.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Wajda, Andrzej. "Polowanie na muchy [Hunting Flies]". Andrzej Wajda: official website of Polish movie director. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "In the Realm of Women (Hunting Flies, 1969)". PolishCinemaReview. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
External links
- Hunting Flies at IMDb
- v
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- Filmography
- A Generation (1955)
- Towards the Sun (1955)
- Kanał (1957)
- Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
- Lotna (1959)
- Innocent Sorcerers (1960)
- Samson (1961)
- Siberian Lady Macbeth (1962)
- Love at Twenty (1962)
- The Ashes (1965)
- Gates to Paradise (1968)
- Przekładaniec (1968)
- Everything for Sale (1969)
- Hunting Flies (1969)
- The Birch Wood (1970)
- Landscape After the Battle (1970)
- Pilate and Others (1972)
- The Wedding (1972)
- The Promised Land (1975)
- The Shadow Line (1976)
- Man of Marble (1977)
- Without Anesthesia (1978)
- The Maids of Wilko (1979)
- The Orchestra Conductor (1980)
- Man of Iron (1981)
- Danton (1983)
- A Love in Germany (1983)
- A Chronicle of Amorous Accidents (1986)
- The Possessed (1988)
- Korczak (1990)
- The Crowned-Eagle Ring (1993)
- Nastasja (1994)
- Holy Week (1995)
- Miss Nobody (1996)
- Pan Tadeusz (1999)
- The Condemnation of Franciszek Klos (2000)
- The Revenge (2002)
- Katyń (2007)
- Sweet Rush (2009)
- Walesa: Man of Hope (2013)
- Afterimage (2016)