Die Ballade von der Axt

I saw "Axiliad" on television and was immediately charmed by it. The film was also praised by Polish critics, won several national and international prizes, and is considered to be one of the most outstanding Polish films of the 1980s. The story is about a young poet, Janek Pradera, who turns his back on civilization and goes to live as a lumberjack in some remote areas of the Polish Bieszczady Mountains. The film was based on a couple of short stories written by the Polish/French poet and writer Edward Stachura, who committed suicide in 1979, and the main character is probably the alter ego of Edward Stachura. I wasn't impressed by the psychological side of the main story, because Janek Pradera never made any effort to fight or change. It looked to me like he moved to Bieszczady only to be left alone and dream his morbid dreams, so the external world didn't interest him that much. But as I said, I was charmed by "Axiliad" poetical language and vision. The Bieszczady Mountains are quite picturesque themselves, but film director Witold Leszczynski managed to create a couple of second plan characters that emanate the unique atmosphere. One can call "Axiliad" the symphony of beauty of simple everyday life. So you don't have to go to the casino in Las Vegas or see the carnival in Rio de Janeiro. A branch of a tree under the snow or the flight of the bird can make you equally elated and happy. This poetic atmosphere of the film couldn't be created without some outstanding performances of actors like Ludwik Benoit, Krzysztof Majchrzak, and Daniel Olbrychski. So even if the story of the main character of "Axiliad" is very sad, for me, the lasting memory of this handsome film is the symphony of beauty in ordinary everyday things.