TO KILL A PRIEST (1988)

MORGAN'S RATING

In Poland, the popular labor movement Solidarity was seen as a threat to Communist authority. Martial law was declared in December, 1981, to crush it. But that didn't stop a young priest who defied the government by preaching support of human rights and Solidarity. Based on true events, the film follows the charismatic Father Alec and the dedicated secret police officer Stefan, two men who see each other as threats to the well-being of the country they love. Stefan is a man struggling with dark, violent urges. He hatches a plot to save his nation by ridding it of his dangerous subversive who mixes politics with prayer.

Christopher Lambert (Father Alek), Ed Harris (Stefan), Joss Ackland (Colonel), Tim Roth (Feliks), Timothy Spall (Igor), Pete Postlethwaite (Josef), Cherie Lunghi (Halina), Joanne Whalley (Anna), David Suchet (Bishop), Charlie Condou (Mirek), Tom Radcliffe (Young Soldier), Wojciech Pszoniak (Bridge Player), Johnny Allen, George Birt, Andre Chaumeau, Paul Crauchet, Janine Darcey, Raoul Delfosse, Huguette Faget, Gregor Fisher, Jerome Flynn, Matyelok Gibbs, Brian Glover, Vincent Grass, Daniel Olbrychski, Anne-Marie Pisani, Eugeniusz Priwieziencew, Boguslawa Schubert, Nicolas Serreau, Jean-Pierre Stewart, Hanna Sylberg, Nicky Naylor, Philip Whitchurch.

FACTS

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

RELEASE DATE: October 13th, 1989 (USA) BUDGET: $10 million (USA) SHOOTING DATES: October 1987 -- January 1988

DIRECTOR: Agnieszka Holland. WRITERS: Agnieszka Holland, Jean-Yves Pitoun, and Michael Cooper (English adaptation). PRODUCER: Jean-Pierre Alessandri. CO-PRODUCER: Timothy Burrill. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Georges Delerue, Zbigniew Presiner, and Joan Baez (song). DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"Unfortunately it's a tragedy made laughable, its director ineffectual, its cast embarrassed." -- Rita Kempley, Washington Post