ETHER

• Jacek Poniedziałek
• Andrzej Chyra
• Zsolt Laszlo

A regular participant in major international festivals and a recipient of awards at Cannes and Berlin, Krzysztof Zanussi is a key figure in Polish cinema from the latter half of the 20th century through the first two decades of the 21st. This pan-European co-production is the penultimate work in his extensive filmography, a historical drama set in the late 19th century. The movie’s protagonist is a doctor who uses ether to manipulate people, ultimately leading to the death of a young woman when he administers an excessive dose in order to rape. With clear influences from Goethe’s ‘Faust’ and German expressionism, the film synthesizes the intellectual and cinematic ideals of the director.»

At the end of the 19th century, somewhere in the outskirts of the Russian Empire, a doctor administers a lethal overdose of ether to a young woman – the object of his desire. After getting away with his crime, he finds employment in a fortress, where he continues his experiments with ether to manage pain and manipulate human behaviour. Despite his evilness, it is not too late for his soul to be saved from eternal damnation…