Directed by: Janusz Morgenstern
Starring: Daniel Olbrychski, Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass, Zbigniew Cybulski
Despite a theatrical release that included the US, and a review in The New York Times, Jowita (Jovita) sank rapidly into oblivion after its release. The screenplay for Janusz Morgenstern’s third feature met mixed reviews and suffered from banal comparisons with the psychological complexity of Stanisław Dygat’s novel Disneyland (1965).
Although the character of Marek Arens in the movie has been dismissed as less in-depth than its counterpart in the novel, Daniel Olbrychski brought him to life with such vigour that it won him a status in Polish Cinema comparable to that of Zbigniew Cybulski. With Jovita, the baton passed from Cybulski to the younger, more restless, but somehow more light-hearted Olbrychski. This symbolical changeover takes place in the flat of Cybulski’s character, an athletics trainer called Edward, where he invites Olbrychski’s character, runner Marek, to abandon his chimeras and take part in the race without idealism.
The sentimental education of Marek in search of Jovita – a female figure encountered during a masquerade ball – is set against the background of a well-lit and vaguely fairy version of Krakow. The main chimera Marek longs for is interpreted with verve by Roman Polanski’s first wife Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass.
Originally published by The Krakow Post on July 11, 2012