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This ornate period melodrama, set in Poland at the turn of the century, is based on a novel by Stefan Zeromski, author of 'Ashes'. A teenage girl, strictly brought up, confesses her sins and is warned by the priest against impure thoughts. Soon afterwards she falls in love with a young man who is boarding at her parents' house. He is trying to get a divorce which the church authorities are unwilling to grant. After he has been wounded in a duel, she goes to live with him in the country. They live together until he goes to Rome, trying to get his divorce. Eventually, she hears from the nobleman who wounded him that her lover is in prison in Rome, so they travel there to find him. He has, however, been released, and she wanders about France and Germany before being taken over by two confidence tricksters who want to lure the nobleman into a trap. Finally their intrigues lead her back to her lover, but the story ends in tragedy.
'The film is a celebration of amour fou: completely immoral, completely crazy and yet within the context of love completely logical.'
Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
'Borowczyk magically transforms this dross into the purest cinematic gold. In his hands, even the ordinary act of sweeping up crumbs from a sideboard becomes a delight to watch and a meaningful gesture.'
Ken Wlaschin, Films and Filming
'He has given us a pure, ruthless, virtually aseptic picture of lust as seen in a dream.'
Continental Film Review