Stara basn. Kiedy slonce bylo bogiem

It will always puzzle me how can you make such a bad movie when you employ such great number of top Polish actors. I don't really know where to start...Actors (especially females) were bad and stiff. Women wore full make up and some of the Popiel's men seemed to have something that looked like a sabre to me, as a weapon. Shame. there was a great potential there. and with movies and TV series placed in medieval world today this could be another interesting addition to the genre. for Zebrowski this is another poor attempt at warrior based story. but as with The Witcher, this attempt is just abysmal. The same goes for Olbrychski. However, he doesn't really have to impress anyone at this stage of his career.

Mr. Jerzy Hoffman proved with this film that he has been and still remains to be one of the three greatest Polish film directors, along with Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kislowski. This film was made with the obvious attempt to repeat the winning formula of Hoffman's super hit Ogniem I Miezcem (1999)- the theme is again about Poland's heroic past, the actors are more or less the same - Polish mega stars Zebrowski, Olbrychski, Zborowski, as well as Ukrainian star Bohdan Stupka and the Russian rising female star Maria Aleksandrova (she is somehow connected with Aleksander Domogarow who played one of the main roles in Ogniem I Mieczem - so, the principle of inviting as many OiM stars as possible worked out). And it worked. The film tells about the pre-Christian history of Poland, where there were many disparate tribes, and one of those was ruled by a bloody and ferocious chief Popel. He didn't hesitate to murderer all his relatives and his nephew only to stay a chief as long as possible. He is the merciless ruler, but there are people who challenge him. Among them is the brave archer Ziemowit, and he is the one who openly fights against Popel. It is not necessary to retell the whole story here, only keep in mind that this is a breathtaking film, with bloody battles, viking raids, pagan rituals, some sweet love story, beautiful nature and excellent sense of humor. Do watch it.

Forget Brad Pitt as Achilles; Michal Zebrowski as Ziemowit the archer ROCKS! Seriously, the handsome, brooding Zebrowski is about as good as it gets when it comes to a costumed movie hero, and this vehicle is escapist fun from beginning to end. The setting is pre-Christian Poland, where the rustic natives worship the sun god and fend off the depredations of Odin-worshipping Vikings. When the late king's brother, ruling as regent, decides he doesn't want to the hand the throne over to his young nephew, the stage is set for a classic tale of murder, peasant uprising, and heroism (the hero being the loner Viking Ziemowit, who takes up the cause of the local peasants against their scheming ruler).

Pagan rituals, including a funeral, a bacchanalian festival, and the casting of a love-spell, are enchantingly portrayed. The forest scenery is gorgeous, and cinematography is excellent throughout. CGI backgrounds and settings are absolutely beautiful (though special action effects are not quite up to Hollywood standards). Pacing is almost too fast. There's a buoyant sense of energy reminiscent of American films I grew up watching in the 1960s about Vikings, King Arthur, Robin Hood, etc.

At the film's end, we learn that Ziemowit will found the Piast dynasty that will rule Poland as it emerges into the Christian era.

Alongside Zebrowski, the towering Polish actor Daniel Olbrychski does a great turn as the stoic conscience of the peasantry. Olbrychski used to be the male hottie in Polish movies (the slot now occupied by Zebrowski), and he's the one, not Zebrowski, who gets the shirtless scene in this movie. Like Sean Connery, Olbrychski has still got it, and always will! As of this writing (mid-2005), this movie can be found (though not easily!) on DVD with English subtitles, under the title WHEN THE SUN WAS GOD: AN ANCIENT TALE.

Whle watching this film I've grown to respect Hollywood much more. The thing is American films are usually professionally made (well, at least those which reach me here in Ukraine). Even if the idea is the simplest one possible, the films are still watchable and entertaining (well most of them). They know their stuff and at least don't make the simplest mistakes. This film done by the guru of polish cinema looked amateurish. The acting was rather poor. The lead roles often overplayed their emotions. I was constantly under the impression that most scenes took just one take and the director just didn't bother and was like "meh, it will do". The secondary role actors were even worse. Most of them looked like they are relatives of the production crew or were just random people from the street. The story never got me involved, it's just tedious. But there wasn't much to it anyway. Maybe the actors were so bad because of it, they just didn't understand what they are supposed to act. The characters have no depth and relations between them never get going. And the CGIs... 2003, two years after Shrek we get this kind of stuff?.. So the conclusion: there is no life in this film, it feels cheesy and uninspiring.

This is a Polish film which is all about a ruthless despot's attempts to crush a rebel army by enlisting the help of the Vikings. I'm not quite sure how historically accurate this is, but frankly who cares? It may not be a Hollywood spectacular but the hacking and slashing were enough to divert my attention and the complex plot is not unlike that great TV show, Game Of Thrones. It does come with subtitles intact though, so those dimwits who can't read and watch simultaneously can look elsewhere. Everyone else will probably enjoy a decent throwback to when our leaders were corrupt, life was cheap and barbarism ruled the day. Hmm... Maybe not that much of a throwback after all... 6/10