Pornografia (2003)

In occupied Warsaw in 1943, at a small gathering steeped in an atmosphere of decadence and indifference, the writer Witold (Adam Ferency) meets the mysterious Fryderyk (Krzysztof Majchrzak). Meanwhile, he receives a letter from his old friend Hipolit S. (Krzysztof Globisz), a landowner from the Sandomierz region, inviting him to visit. Witold accepts the invitation and takes Fryderyk with him. Before they reach Hipolit’s estate, their car is stopped by a partisan unit led by Colonel Siemian (Jan Frycz), renowned for his courage and daring. Siemian asks Witold and Fryderyk to give a lift to Karol (Kazimierz Mazur), the young son of the steward of a neighboring estate. His father has entrusted him to Hipolit to be brought up and to help with the farm. That evening, everyone—Witold, Fryderyk, Hipolit, his wife Maria (Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska), his daughter Henia (Sandra Samos), and Karol—sits down to dinner. In the course of the evening, the viewer discovers one of Fryderyk’s secrets: thanks to his unusually sensitive senses, he can hear faint sounds from far away. The next morning, the characters go to church. During Mass, Fryderyk suddenly falls to his knees and becomes absorbed in prayer, to Witold’s surprise. Karol and Henia, both young and beautiful, pique Witold’s interest. He complains to Fryderyk that there is no attraction between the two young people. Fryderyk bets Witold that he can bring Karol and Henia together. The task is made more difficult by the fact that Henia is already engaged to Wacław (Grzegorz Damięcki), Hipolit’s neighbor, who is chaste, upright, and wealthy. Soon, a strange game begins, orchestrated by Fryderyk, with everyone gathered at the manor as unwitting participants. Far beyond the estate, the war rages on. Its dark and brutal episodes, presented almost in passing and seemingly unrelated to the plot, punctuate the successive scenes. Wacław arrives to see Henia with his mother, Amelia (Irena Laskowska). Henia’s family, her fiancé, Mrs. Amelia, and the guests from Warsaw go for a walk. Fryderyk befriends the older woman, who, as a devout Catholic, criticizes his atheism. During dinner, Amelia is stabbed by a farmhand, sixteen-year-old Skuziak (Jan Urbański), who has sneaked into the kitchen. The murderer is caught and locked in a shed on the estate. Meanwhile, Fryderyk continues his efforts to bring the young people closer together. He claims that he is preparing a film and arranges a rehearsal of a love scene, giving Henia’s fiancé advance notice through Witold. Wacław witnesses the ambiguous enactment. Fryderyk’s plans are disrupted by Siemian’s arrival. The colonel, suffering a nervous breakdown, poses a threat to the underground organization and, fearing revenge by his comrades, takes refuge at Hipolit’s manor. The command decides that Siemian must be eliminated. During a heated discussion among Fryderyk, Witold, Hipolit, and Wacław, Fryderyk’s successful maneuvering leads the estate’s owner to decide that Karol will kill Siemian. Fryderyk persuades Henia to help him. When Maria, Hipolit’s wife, a lonely alcoholic, asks Fryderyk about the sad-and-cheerful melody he played on the piano in their sitting room, he tells her about his past. Several years earlier, he had lived in Warsaw as a bon vivant and hedonist, giving no thought at all to Helenka, his half-Jewish daughter. Through his carelessness, Helenka was caught by the Germans and deported to a concentration camp. Fryderyk went with her of his own accord. When she recognized him and began calling out to him, he turned away. The girl died. The night of Siemian’s execution arrives. After making love, Karol and Henia sneak into the colonel’s room. But inside they find Wacław, driven mad, who had crept in earlier and killed Siemian. Karol does not recognize him. Wacław dies. In one of the film’s final scenes, Fryderyk gets rid of his concentration-camp number. Then he slashes his wrists.