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Christening

The Christening

Chrzest

Marcin Wrona

  • Country: Poland
  • Year: 2010
  • Language: Polish
  • Producer: Leszek Rybarczyk, Marek Rudnicki
  • Executive Producer: Leszek Rybarczyk, Magdalena Jozwiak, Marek Rudnicki, Tomasz Szulc
  • Screenplay: Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela, Dariusz Glazer Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela, Dariusz Glazer Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela, Dariusz Glazer Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela, Dariusz Glazer Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela, Dariusz
  • Runtime: 86
  • Programmes:

Michal (Wojciech Zielinski) hopes to change his luck and escape his criminal past. But when he’s pursued by a violent gang,he desperately tries to find a way to save his family.

Drama,  Europe,  Crime & Thriller

screening times


official description

This buddy movie is set over the course of a week, and as the days tick off, a time-bomb scenario is revealed that explains and undercuts the actions of both protagonists. Muscular and well-written, The Christening throws us into the contemporary and brutal realities of the contemporary Warsaw underworld, where the rule of law is street-law and transgressions are quickly and efficiently dealt with by the ruling gangs.

Jacek (Tomasz Schchardt) and Mikal (Wojciech Zielinski) are fast and firm friends who haven’t seen each other for some time. When Jacek, a Polish soldier, bounces up the stairs to knock on the door of his old friend’s apartment, he is greeted by an attractive blond caring for a newborn. After a boozy reunion, Mikal shows his friend how things have turned out for him. Newly married, working as a window installer and the owner of an expensive new car, he seems to be well on his way to success. Jacek is impressed, but not for long, as a gang of long-time acquaintances drag him into a car and lay out what is really going on in Mikal’s life. It turns out that he has betrayed the brother of their local gang leader, who vows revenge. Mikal has to pay an ongoing fee and, if he can’t raise the cash, it’s game over. Sunday happens to be the Christening day of Mikal’s baby, but it may also be the day Mikal outlives his good fortune.

Director Marcin Wrona has an eye for the simple, unadorned moments of truth between people. Jacek is initially portrayed as the wild outsider who is welcomed into his friend’s new life with a wary sense of mistrust mixed with the memories of a shared past. This gradually changes as the two men are forced into relying on each other in ways for which not even their history together has prepared them.

Piers Handling

director bio

Marcin Wrona is born in Tarnów, Poland. He is a director and screenwriter and also teaches directing. His diploma film Magnet Man and feature debut My Flesh, My Blood gained recognition at many film festivals. The Christening is his second feature film and screened at the Polish Film Festiwal Gdynia 2010 winning, among others, The Silver Lion Award.

full credits

Principal Cast: Tomasz Schuchardt, Wojciech Zielinski, Natalia Rybicka, Adam Woronowicz, Michal Koterski
Producer: Leszek Rybarczyk, Marek Rudnicki
Executive Producer: Leszek Rybarczyk, Magdalena Jozwiak, Marek Rudnicki, Tomasz Szulc
Cinematographer: Pawel Flis
Editor: Piotr Kmiecik
Sound: Tomasz Sikora
Music: Marcin Macuk
Production Designer: Dorota Lacek-Gorczyca
   
International Sales Agent: M-Appeal
Production Company: Odeon Film Studio
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