Jolanta Fraszynska in Pora na czarownice (1993)

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Review

An HIV-positive prostitute forms a tragic friendship with a gay drifter afflicted with the same disease in the gritty Polish drama Pora na czarownice (1993). Jolanta Fraszynska stars as Jola, a young woman whose health is deteriorating because of the disease she contracted as a streetwalker. Along with Andrzej (Andrzej Mastalerz), Jola seeks help at a health clinic that used to serve as a vacation destination for Communist Party officials. This ironic flourish is one of many ways that director Piotr Lazarkiewicz courageously explores his country’s past and the future of its most needy inhabitants. Naturally Lazarkiewicz’s conclusions aren’t uniformly pleasant, but he does allow for a silver lining in the form of Fraszynska’s fabulous flesh.