Interrogation (aka Przesluchanie) is a decidedly gritty, grim and at times deeply troubling prison drama/ thriller set in the 1950s during the Stalinist regime. The Polish film was made in the early 80’s- but banned in its country of origin for many years- though it thrived on the underground VHS market. Here from Second Run- is a very well-deserved region-free Blu-Ray release of the picture- featuring a new 2k scan of the film, an interview with the film's director, and a forty-page inlay booklet taking in new writing about the film/more.

Interrogation was made in the year 1982- though it didn’t get a full/ proper release until the end of the decade. It was directed & co-written by Warshaw-born Ryszard Bugajski. He had seven feature lengths to his name, and twenty TV credits- taking in both TV episodes & TV films. His feature-length went from garment factory set drama Kobieta I Kobieta (1980), Canadian wildness horror thriller Clear Cut(1991),  and General Nil (2009) which was a historic drama/ bio regarding General August Emil Fieldorf aka "Nil", who commanded the underground  Polish home army against the Nazis – but was killed after WW2 by communists.
 
The film is set in Warshaw in the year 1951. And focuses on Antonina 'Tonia' Dziwisz (Krystyna Janda) a cabaret singer. We first meet her via a montage of her laughing in the sun, lying in bed with her bespeckled & bookish husband Konstanty(Olgierd Lukaszewicz), and doing her act on a nighttime stage. In the audience is Konstanty, and after the show, he comes to her dressing room. She is less than pleased with him, accusing him of flirting with her friend. He storms off back to their apartment. She is approached by two men who claim to be ‘fans’ of her cabaret act- they ask her to go for a drink with them- she proceeds to drink a lot of vodka- getting very blotto.
 
All three get into a taxi, supposable dropping her back home- but instead, they drop her off at a facility of some form. Here she is shouted at, stripped, and her virginity checked- before being put back in her clothes- then thrown into a cell still half concise in her drunken state. The next morning comes, and she, of course, believes she has been arrested wrongly- she asks the guards for help, as well as her cellmates- but everyone is brutally unhelpful.
 
A few days pass, and finally, Tonia is led out of her cell to a stark room where a suited bureaucrat with a briefcase sits. She tries to resolve the misunderstanding- but as their conversation unfolds it becomes clear that she is very much meant to be there. He starts off nice enough- but fairly soon turns nasty & aggressive- questioning her regarding who she has slept with over the years.  This is the first of many trips to this office.
 
As the film unfolds things truly go from bad to a lot worse for poor Tonia- she is repeatedly interrogated, with at points the bureaucrat cruelly pulling her hair to make her sign false confessions. She keeps trying to bat back against the growing pile of confessions. Going from being nearly half drowned,  made to strip with a gun pointed to her head, and even taken into a room where another prisoner has just been shot.
 
When she is not in the office, or been broken down. She spends her time in a crowded & bleak cell- meeting a series of other female prisoners of the state- who again are been held on jumped-up charges.
 
Most of the film plays out without any soundtrack- been filmed with a very documentary /fly-on-the-wall feel. The only time we get any type of soundtracking is when Tonia is dreaming/ imagining things- but even that’s very subtle just lightly heard harmonic drones.
 
Acting-wise Krystyna Janda is truly astonishing- going from a bright ‘n’ breezy carefree woman all the way to a broken & pale wreak. She is physically put through the wringer- being pushed, dragged, half-drowned, and generally mentally and physically broken down. The surrounding cast is all very good as well- with both the bureaucrat/soldiers and cellmates being very believable in their portrayals. It goes without saying- but this is a very, very tough film to watch/ endure- yes there are brief flashes of hope/humour, but these are cut short quickly as we’re once more dropped into the extremely grim and stark world of the prison.
 
The film runs at just under the two-hour mark- and I was completely & utterly held throughout. Yes, at points I flinched and even looked away when things got really bad for poor Tonia. Interrogation is both a powerful & deeply affecting film- which raises more than a few questions about self-faith/belief, the human spirit, and integration/imprisonment in general.
 

This region-free disc takes in a new 2k scan of the picture- and this is very good, really enhancing the bleak & grim tone of the film. The only extra on the disc is a new thirty-four-minute on-screen interview with director Ryszard Bugajski- this is in English, and is most fascinating/ worthy. He begins by discussing when/ why he decided to make the film. We find out that originally he had selected another actress to play the lead- though she turned it down due to the film’s moments of nudity. He altered the script when Janda took the lead role- as the original character in the script was a lot weaker/ timid.  And apparently, he & his lead actress argued on set- which he says gives the film even more edge.  We find out the film started filming in August 1981- some months before martial law was declared in Poland. He talks about how after this did happen, they had to hide the film's reels- but over the next few months, they brought out the reels to edit them. He quotes from the minutes taken when the picture was shown to the Ministry of Arts & culture - which saw the film being banned. With the director making copies of the film himself on VHS to great risk- which landed in him emigrating to Canada.  He talks about the film's final premiere in Poland in December 1989- with us getting footage of this, as well as a few interviews with cast & crew.
 
The release is finished off with a forty-page inlay booklet- this takes in a new write-up about the film, a transcript of the meeting with the Polish Ministry of Arts & culture regarding Interrogation, original script storyboards, full credits, and a few film stills.
 
It certainly is wonderful to see this release of Interrogation- as it’s such an important, powerful, and affecting film. The new 2k is excellent- as are the extras- both on the disc and in its inlay booklet. So once again another wonderful & classily presented release from Second Run.  To buy direct drop by here