Four Nights with Anna

Four Nights with Anna is set in the rural, north-eastern part of Poland, where time appears to stand still. Leon, who was brought up by his grandmother, is a somewhat dreamy, if not slow-witted, middle-aged man, who cannot fight for himself. As a result of this weakness, those around him repeatedly misunderstand and abuse him. Leon falls in love with Anna, a nurse, working in a local hospital, whose rape he once witnessed. Too shy to tell her about his feelings, he sneaks into her room when she is sleeping, washes the dishes, brings her flowers and even tries to put a diamond ring on her finger, bought with his redundancy money.
After a rather unsuccessful Thirty Door Key (1991), the film Four Nights with Anna was heralded as Skolimowski’s return to great form. Ascetic, but heavy with symbolism, with few, but carefully chosen locations, it brings to mind the cinema of Robert Bresson and Krzysztof Kieslowski, as well as the beginnings of Skolimowski’s career, when the director was able to say much using minimal words. As in his early films, the music is given the role of conveying what the characters are unable to say: it is the music of their souls. This refers especially to Anna, who has little narrative autonomy, always being seen through Leon’s eyes. (EMK)