Four Nights with Anna
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Four Nights with Anna
| image =
| caption =
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|pl|Cztery noce z Anną}}
| director = Jerzy Skolimowski
| producer = {{plainlist|
- Jerzy Skolimowski
- Paulo Branco
}}
| writer = {{plainlist|
- Jerzy Skolimowski
- Ewa Piaskowska
}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
- Artur Steranko
- Kinga Preis
}}
| music = Michał Lorenc
| cinematography = Adam Sikora
| editing = Cezary Grzesiuk
| studio = {{plainlist|
- Alfama Films Production
- Skopia Film
}}
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2008|05|15|Cannes|2008|09|12|Poland|2008|11|05|France}}
| runtime = 87 minutes
| country = {{plainlist|
- Poland
- France}}
| language = Polish
| gross = $153,604{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1225290/|title=Four Nights with Anna|website=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=17 March 2020}}
}}
Four Nights with Anna ({{langx|pl|Cztery noce z Anną}}) is a 2008 drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It stars Artur Steranko and Kinga Preis. It tells the story of a man who visits a woman in her sleep. The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2008. It was released in Poland on 12 September 2008, and in France on 5 November 2008.
Plot
In a small town in Poland, an inarticulate man named Leon lives with his bedridden grandmother in a log cabin next to the hospital. Out fishing one day, he stumbles on a rape and the assailant flees. The woman, a nurse at the hospital called Anna, lets him be arrested and jailed. On release, he is given a job in the hospital crematorium and, discovering that the window of Anna's room is within view of his cabin, begins watching her in the evenings.
One night he breaks in and mixes some of his grandmother's sleeping tablets that he has ground up into the sugar that Anna puts into her tea each night. Once she is sound asleep, he starts visiting her room, not exposing her or touching her, except once to paint a toenail, but content just to be in her presence among her things and to do small tasks like sewing on a missing button,
Budget constraints mean that the hospital has to close its crematorium and he is laid off with a terminal payment. He uses it to buy an engagement ring, which he leaves for her one night. Climbing out of her window in a hurry, he stumbles on a police car and, as he is a known rapist, they take him in. At his trial, when the judge asks why he did it, he says “Love”. Anna allows him to be jailed but then visits him there: she says she has known all along that he is innocent and gives him back the ring.
Cast
{{Cast listing|
- Artur Steranko as Leon Okrasa
- Kinga Preis as Anna
- Jerzy Fedorowicz as Hospital director
- Redbad Klijnstra
- Jakub Snochowski
- Barbara Kołodziejska
- Małgorzata Buczkowska
- Anna Lenartowicz
- Urszula Bartos-Gęsikowska
- Anna Szawiel
- Marcin Jędrzejewski
- Zbigniew Konopka
- Judyta Paradzińska
- Witold Wieliński
}}
Release
The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2008.{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/83819/|title=Skolimowski to open Directors' Fortnight|website=Cineuropa|first=Dorota|last=Hartwich|date=28 April 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/84151/|title=Polish films at Cannes|website=Cineuropa|first=Dorota|last=Hartwich|date=14 May 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} It was also screened at the New Horizons Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/85713/|title=Era New Horizons transports viewers from Cannes to New Zealand|website=Cineuropa|first=Dorota|last=Hartwich|date=21 July 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} the New York Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nyff-well-stocked-cannes-titles-117345|title=NYFF well stocked with Cannes titles|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Gregg|last=Goldstein|date=12 August 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} the Toronto International Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2008/film/markets-festivals/french-repped-screeners-at-toronto-1117991621/|title=French-repped screeners at Toronto|website=Variety|first=John|last=Hopewell|date=4 September 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} the Gdynia Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/86672/|title=Diverse and quality films at Gdynia|website=Cineuropa|first=Dorota|last=Hartwich|date=19 September 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} the Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/88057/|title=Tulpan moves audiences in Estoril|website=Cineuropa|first=Vitor|last=Pinto|date=21 November 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} and the Trieste Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/89208/|title=Trieste: 20 years of Eastern European cinema|website=Cineuropa|first=Gabriele|last=Barcaro|date=14 January 2009|accessdate=17 March 2020}} It was released in Poland on 12 September 2008,{{cite web|url=https://culture.pl/en/work/four-nights-with-anna-jerzy-skolimowski|title=Four Nights with Anna – Jerzy Skolimowski|website=Culture.pl|date=30 August 2009|accessdate=17 March 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105050539/http://culture.pl/en/work/four-nights-with-anna-jerzy-skolimowski|archivedate=5 November 2016}} and in France on 5 November 2008.{{cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/85747/|title=European Filmmakers' Tour de France does rounds of French theatres|website=Cineuropa|first=Fabien|last=Lemercier|date=19 August 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}}
Reception
=Critical reception=
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 6 reviews, and a weighted average rating of 5.6/10.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/four_nights_with_anna|title=Four Nights With Anna|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|accessdate=17 March 2020}}
Erene Stergiopoulos of Exclaim! wrote, "Quite simply, Four Nights with Anna is as subtle as it is complex, and is definitely one to watch."{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/film/article/four_nights_with_anna-jerzy_skolimowski|title=Four Nights with Anna Jerzy Skolimowski|website=Exclaim!|first=Erene|last=Stergiopoulos|date=23 September 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} Derek Elley of Variety commented that "[Jerzy Skolimowski's] period as an artist and poet seems to have served him well, more in the film's overall precision and small details than in its look."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2008/film/markets-festivals/four-nights-with-anna-1200522441/|title=Four Nights With Anna|website=Variety|first=Derek|last=Elley|date=15 May 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} Peter Brunette of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "an exercise in tedium marked by only the tiniest of redeeming moments."{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/four-nights-anna-126253|title=Four Nights With Anna|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Peter|last=Brunette|date=17 May 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} Akiva Gottlieb of Slant Magazine gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing, "Without attempting even a superficial inquiry into the kinks of voyeurism, Skolimowski's return to the big screen is only interested in soiling its viewer with a cheap and gimmicky moral relativism."{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/four-nights-with-ana/|title=Review: Four Nights with Ana|website=Slant Magazine|first=Akiva|last=Gottlieb|date=5 October 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}}
Accolades
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col"| Award
! scope="col"| Year of ceremony ! scope="col"| Category ! scope="col"| Recipient(s) ! scope="col"| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| Tokyo International Film Festival
| 2008 | Special Jury Prize | Four Nights with Anna | {{won}} | {{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tulpan-takes-two-tokyo-festival-121750|title='Tulpan' takes two from Tokyo festival|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Galvin J.|last=Blair|date=26 October 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2008/scene/features/tulpan-tops-tokyo-festival-1117994679/|title='Tulpan' tops Tokyo festival|website=Variety|first=Mark|last=Schilling|date=26 October 2008|accessdate=17 March 2020}} |
| rowspan="2" | Polish Film Awards
| rowspan="2" | 2009 | Jerzy Skolimowski | {{won}} |
| Best Cinematography
| Adam Sikora | {{won}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|1225290}}
{{Jerzy Skolimowski}}
Category:2000s Polish-language films
Category:Films directed by Jerzy Skolimowski
Category:Films produced by Paulo Branco