In 1950s Stalinist Poland, a headstrong cabaret singer, Tonia, is imprisoned without explanation. Days become months, punctuated only by the physical and psychological torture of relentless interrogation. Over time, the relationship with her captors grows ever more complex. Krystyna Janda’s award-winning portrayal of a woman’s fight for survival is mesmerising in its intensity.
Based on true events, Ryszard Bugajski’s harrowing film was banned under martial law in Poland, but thrived on underground VHS after a copy was smuggled out by the director at great personal risk. Finally released after the Fall of Communism, the film remains a powerful indictment of totalitarianism.
Extras
Interrogation (Przesłuchanie, 1982) presented complete and uncut from an HD transfer of the new 2K restoration of the film produced by WFDiF, Poland.
Ryszard Bugajski on ‘Interrogation’: an in-depth 2005 interview with the late director in which he discusses the film’s contextual history, its production, the controversy surrounding its release and its eventual withdrawal and banning by Polish authorities.
40-page booklet with writing on the film by Michael Szporer, and the complete transcript of the 1982 hearing before the so-called ‘co-laudation commission’ ahead of the film’s suppression.
New and improved English subtitle translation. • World premiere release on Blu-ray.
