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Małgorzata Szumowska e Michał Englert pronti a girare The Idiots

13/05/2025 - Il film, che si preannuncia una commedia nera anti-imperialista, avrà come protagonisti Aimee Lou Wood e Johnny Flynn e sarà girato interamente in Polonia

I registi Małgorzata Szumowska e Michał Englert (© No-Mad Films)

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“It’s not a traditional approach to Fiodor Dostoyevsky. The film is highly contemporary and refers very much to what is happening currently in the world. It’s a timely story, to a certain extent about the fact that, without his wife, Dostoyevsky wouldn’t have been who he became,” Małgorzata Szumowska, the co-director and co-writer of The Idiots, tells Cineuropa exclusively. She adds that the new film will be a black comedy – and an anti-imperialistic one, too. She explains that the script, which she wrote with Michał Englert, with help from Kasper Bajon and Brid Arstein, used Anna Dostoevskaya’s diaries as a principal source. The story, as Variety first revealed, will revolve around Fiodor and Anna’s honeymoon and the early years of their marriage, a period when the famous novel The Idiots was conceived. Andrew D Kaufman’s book The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky is an additional literary source for the script.

Shooting will start on 16 June in Poland, with all locations scouted inside the country. The cast revealed so far includes Aimee Lou Wood (White Lotus, Sex Education) and Johnny Flynn (Ripley, One Life [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]). Szumowska also tells Cineuropa that more cast members will be announced soon, presumably during the Cannes Film Festival. Englert, who is one of Poland’s top cinematographers and also works on international projects, will lens the movie and will co-direct with Szumowska for the third time, after All Inclusive and Woman of... [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Małgorzata Szumowska, Mich…
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Most of the duo’s previous projects – on which Englert served as DoP, co-writer or additional director – saw them borrowing elements of black comedy. This was indeed the case for Body [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Malgorzata Szumowska
intervista: Malgorzata Szumowska
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intervista: Małgorzata Szumowska
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intervista: Małgorzata Szumowska e Mic…
scheda film], which opened at Venice. Their films, shot and written in Polish, take a critical look at Polish society, the oddities that constitute people’s daily lives and the way they perceive the world. Their recent effort Woman of… premiered in Venice’s main competition in 2023.

Szumowska has also already worked on international projects, including Elles [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Malgorzata Sumowska
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intervista: Malgorzata Szumowska
scheda film], with Raffey Cassidy in the main role; and Infinite Storm [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which was toplined by Hollywood star Naomi Watts. These movies have a more serious and darker tone compared to Szumowska’s Polish works, and revolve around female characters facing different, yet always significant, forms of adversity.