In Desert and Wilderness (2001 film)

In Desert and Wilderness
Movie poster
Directed by	Gavin Hood
Written by	Gavin Hood
Based on	In Desert and Wilderness by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Produced by	Waldemar Dziki, Włodzimierz Otulak
Starring	Karolina Sawka Adam Fidusiewicz Mzwandile Ngubeni Lungile Shongwe
Cinematography	Jacek Januszyk
Music by	Krzesimir Dębski
Release date	2001 (2001)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Poland
Language	Polish
Budget	$4.2 million
Box office	2.2 million admissions (Poland)[1]

In Desert and Wilderness (Polish: W pustyni i w puszczy) is a 2001 Polish film directed by Gavin Hood.[2] Adapted from the 1911 novel In Desert and Wilderness by Henryk Sienkiewicz,[3] it tells the story of two children, Staś Tarkowski and Nel Rawlison, kidnapped by the rebels during Mahdi's rebellion in Sudan.

Production

Filming took three months. It was filmed in South Africa and Tunisia. The original director, Maciej Dutkiewicz, fell ill at the very beginning of filming and his role was taken by Hood. A miniseries version of the film was later broadcast in 2002.[4] Its content differed from the book and the film was said to be more modern, notably in its depiction of intercultural relationships. The film enjoyed considerable success.

Music

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Krzesimir Dębski with Beata Kozidrak's song Rzeka marzeń (River of Dreams) recorded in 2000 chosen as the theme for the film.[5]

Cast

• Karolina Sawka [pl] as Nel Rawlison
• Adam Fidusiewicz as Staś Tarkowski
• Artur Żmijewski as Władysław Tarkowski (Staś's father)
• Andrzej Strzelecki as George Rawlinson (Nel's father)
• Mzwandile Ngubeni as Kali
• Lungile Shongwe as Mea
• Konrad Imiela [pl] as Chamis
• Lotfi Dziri as Gebhr
• Ahmed Hafiane as Idrys
• Krzysztof Kowalewski as Kalioupoli
• Krzysztof Kolberger as Linde
• Agnieszka Pilaszewska [pl] as Madame Olivier
• Hichem Rostom as Mahdi

Reception

With 2.2 million admissions, it was the second most popular Polish film of the year behind Quo Vadis.[1]

References

1. Hollender, Barbara (24 December 2001). "Homegrown pix gain in Europe". Variety. p. 7.
2. "W pustyni i w puszczy (film)". FilmPolski (in Polish). Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
3. "Biography and Book Database of Henryk Sienkiewicz". Culture. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012.
4. "W pustyni i w puszczy (miniseries)". FilmPolski (in Polish). Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
5. Kozidrak, Beata (2021). Beata. Gorąca krew. Wydawnictwo Agora. ISBN 978-83-268-3662-6.

External links

• In the Desert and Wilderness at IMDb