Starring: Grażyna Długolecka, Jerzy Zelnik, Olgierd Łukaszewicz
Directed by: Walerian Borowczyk
In an interview with Polish weekly Przegląd Tygodniowy published in 1999, Grażyna Długolecka, who lost 13 kilograms on the set of Dzieje grzechu (The Story of Sin), described her work with Walerian ‘Boro’ Borowczyk as a nightmarish and morally depraved experience. This is surely a case of Linda Lovelace syndrome, in which repentant actresses cast their younger selves as victims.
Compared to the rest of Borowczyk’s output, The Story of Sin is relatively chaste, with only two sex scenes for Długolecka (who received a special mention at Cannes for her role in Borowczyk’s only Polish feature film after relocating to France). The film is a retelling of Stefan Żeromski novel of the same name and is set at the turn of 20th century. It follows the misfortunes of pious young woman Ewa Probratynśka (Grażyna Długolecka) as she is seduced and then abandoned by her lover (Jerzy Zelnik), and raped by two bandits.
Borowczyk, once again, demonstrates his familiarity and ease with de Sadian narratives, where evil and lust are regarded as unavoidable. Rigorous in both his role as enlightened pornographer and visionary animator, Borowczyk even succeeds in rendering an episode of infanticide visually bearable.
Originally published by The Krakow Post on February 23, 2012