Dates & times
All times are local to the venue · America/Chicago
- From 7:00 PM
Innocent Sorcerers at Music Box: Wajda, Courtship and Jazz
Jazz gives this courtship story a historical edge: the film places its characters in a Poland where jazz had been banned until Stalin’s death in 1953. That context helps explain why music is more than a detail in the young doctor’s romantic life.
A different register for Wajda
After Ashes and Diamonds completed his War Trilogy, Wajda turned to a contemporary story centered on Andrzej, a young doctor whose attention seems more readily held by music than by romance. Magda tries to draw him out of his reserve, giving the film its tentative courtship.
Tadeusz Łomnicki plays Andrzej. The listing credits Jerzy Andrzejewski and Jerzy Skolimowski as writers and notes Wajda’s work with emerging young filmmakers. Krystyna Stypulkowska and Wanda Koczeska are also named in the cast.
Further reading: Innocent Sorcerers in Chicago at Music Box Theatre ↗
Music and a contemporary style
The film’s jazz setting links the couple’s private story to a particular cultural context. The event description also points to the spontaneity of the French New Wave as a frame for Wajda’s approach, setting this project apart from his earlier war-centered work.
The screening is listed as a film only; no live jazz performance or separate accompanying program is announced. Here, jazz belongs to the story and its historical backdrop.
Further reading: Innocent Sorcerers in Chicago at Music Box Theatre ↗