The Lesser Evil evolves around the life of Kamil, a young poet who manages to achieve artistic and social success in the harsh reality of People's Republic of Poland in the 1980's. He has an obsession of "being a somebody" and skilfully builds his public persona, which ultimately hides his lack of a real writing talent. Intentionally indifferent to the real state of things in his politically perturbed country, he is thrown between the Secret Service and opposition connected to the Solidarity union. He will have to decide and pay the price that comes with choosing "the lesser evil."

The movie is directed by Janusz Morgenstern, one of the creators of the Polish Film School. His debut Good Bye, Till Tomorrow starring Zbigniew Cybulski in 1960 brought him the Silver Boomerang Award in Melbourne and the Best Directing prize in Stratford. He was always interested in young characters searching for their identity, which resulted in works such as to Kill This Love (Trzeba zabić tę miłość) and Mniejsze Niebo (A Smaller Sky). Morgernstern is also the creator of legendary Polish television series More Than Life at Stake, The Columbuses ( Kolumbowie) and Polish Roads (Polskie drogi). He is also a producer and head of the Perspektywa studio, with 55 movies produced under his supervision.

The script was written by Morgenstern in co-operation with Janusz Anderman, the author of the book The Whole Time ( Cały czas), which was a basis for The Lesser Evil. "I always wanted my movies to evolve around  the things that are real and lay in the circle of what interests me. There is no need to look for stiff arguments and then justify them at any price, just to match the thesis posed in a movie. My rule is to create cinema, that raises tension that does not allow the viewer to take his eyes off the screen. The same rule applies when I choose my projects. It has to be something that I can give to the viewer and is also interesting for me," Morgenstern said when asked about his choice of script.

The leading role of Kamil is played by Lesław Żurek, a promising young Polish actors, who debuted in Ode To Joy by Maciej Migas and has worked with Ken Loach in It's A Free world... (Polak potrzebny od zaraz) as well as Christopher Doyle in Warsaw Dark (Izolator). He is accompanied by a star cast of Polish actors including Janusz Gajos, Wojciech Pszoniak, Anna Romantowska, Borys Szyc, Magdalena Cielecka and Tamara Archiuch.

The Lesser Evil was produced by Perspektywa Film Productions (www.stuidoperspektywa.pl) in co-operation with Vision Film (www.vision.pl) and The Documentary and Feature Films Studio (WFDiF, www.wfdif.com.pl)). Perspektywa informed FNE that the total budget of the film was 6 million PLN. The movie got received 3 million PLN in production and development financing from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl).  The movie was shot in two sessions, first in February 2008 and then between April and June 2008 in Warsaw and Gdańsk.

The movie will open in Polish cinemas on October 23, 2009, distributed by Vision Film.


Credits
Director   -   Janusz Morgenstern
Screenwriter   -   Janusz Morgenstern, Janusz Anderman
Cinematographer   -   Andrzej Ramlau P.S.C
Set designer   -   Andrzej Haliński
Costumes   -   Magdalena Biedrzycka
Music   -   Michał Lorenc
Producer   -   Janusz Morgenstern
Executive producer   -   Dorota Ostrowska-Orlińska
Co-producers   -   Włodzimierz Otulak, Włodzimierz Niderhaus
Production company   -   Studio Filmowe Perspektywa
Co-production   -   Vision Film, WFDiF
Co-financing   -   Polish Film Institute
Distributor   -   Vision Film

Cast
Lesław Żurek
Janusz Gajos
Anna Romantowska
Wojciech Pszoniak
Borys Szyc
Magdalena Cielecka
Tamara Arciuch
and others


Production contact:
Studio Filmowe PERSPEKTYWA
ul. Puławska 61, 02-595 Warszawa
tel.: 22 845 54 94, 22 856 84 80-82
fax: 22 845 54 94
email: biuro@studioperspektywa.pl
www: http://www.studioperspektywa.pl
 

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