A Lonely woman = Kobieta Samotna [NTSC]

Banned in Poland due to its candid representation of the bleakness of life under socialism, “A Lonely Woman” is one of Holland’s most powerful films and her last prior to her exile in France. Irena is a lonely middle-aged women and single mother living in poverty in a small Polish town. Deprived of help and friendship, she has little contact with anyone apart from her son on whom she dotes. One day while on her mail round, she meets a crippled young miner named Jacek and a love affair gradually develops between the couple based on their mutual loneliness. Irena’s circumstances become even more dire when the sick relative she has been caring for dies and she is faced with the funeral costs rather than the inheritance she expected. In desperation she steals the pensioners’ money that she is supposed to deliver, puts her son in a boarding school, buys a car and heads to West Berlin with Jacek. Yet in a surprise plot twist the couple’s getaway takes an alarming turn. Cast includes Maria Chwalibog, and Boguslaw Linda. In Polish with English subtitles.