Björn-5

I had high expectations when I started watching the movie, but its background as a TV mini-series were soon painfully evident. Flat lighting, choppy editing (several scenes became confusing, as it was evident that something had been cut), and poor pyrotechnics. The battle scenes were OK, but not as spectacular as some claim. The explosions are just huge fireballs, looking like something from a poor WW2 action movie. The main male leads are rather good, but the "love at first sight" scenario is a silly cliché. Izabella Scorupco is pleasing to the eye, but not much more. The version I watched (the Scandinavian DVD release) has the Polish over-dubbing of other languages than Polish. This was the first time I encountered that particular feature, and hearing a male voice with all the enthusiasm of a weather forecaster doing the dialogue of both male and female roles was a bit distracting, to say the least. The scenes with feasting were taken out of the book "How to stage period feasts Hollywood style", but at least they didn't have food fights or dogs prowling the tables. It is recommended to read up on the historical background before watching, as anyone not familiar with Eastern European 17th century history will soon find him/herself confused. All in all, it is a rather passable historical drama made for TV, but don't expect greatness.

I watched this movie at a film festival years ago. It was the "director's cut", AFAIK, and the three+ hours playing time honestly felt closer to four hours. Now, I'm no stranger to historical drama, romantic movies, or epic movies, but this movie bored me out of my skull. The story drags along at a snail's pace, with the few dramatic highlights hardly making a blip on the radar. The main characters fail at stirring any sympathy for them or their relation. The sets, costumes and cinematography were decent enough, but it couldn't compensate for the turgid pace. It is probably the most boring historical drama I've had to misfortune to watch.