Synopsis

Poland during the Stalinist regime of the early 1950s. Singer Tonia travels across the country with her band to perform for the rural and urban working class. One evening, two men get Tonia very drunk before they bring her to jail, where the secret police commands her to incriminate a former acquaintance, an arrested political prisoner. A long and desperate interrogation begins, during which Tonia is threatened and tortured. Only after she starts a relationship with one of the police officers does hope seem to exist. Interrogation is a shocking examination of human behaviour and an angry accusation against Stalinist tyranny. This legendary film from 1982 has been labelled the most “anti-Communist” film of the Communist era and was banned. Director Ryszard Bugajski left Poland one year later. The first screening took place in 1989 at the Gdynia Film Festival from where it conquered the world. In 1990, the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Krystyna Janda was rewarded with the Palme d’Or for Best Actress for playing Tonia, eight years after the film was shot.