Pan Tadeusz

... was interesting. The movie was both very good and a bit awkward. I liked it except for a nephew and an aunt (although I guess more of distant relation connected them than direct by immediate blood or marriage? So she was not a sister of his mother or father nor was she married to a brother of his mother or father...) had a lustful, secret, brief relationship - I would barely call it that since it was more physical and I never could figure out Tad's true feelings; she said that he had mentioned loving her, but I am not so sure since it could be that she was throwing herself at him - a bit too much cleavage, but I guess not for the men around, including Tad - and he was a young guy; the use of "aunt" made me wonder about this fact and I looked it up later, hoping maybe the title was simply a sign of respect so that the "romance" (used lightly) would be less awkward (more May-December than both that and incest being involved). However, she is actually related by family... making it distant was still a bit strange for my modern head. Also, of course, this was "old school" in that a girl marries before 18 (she was 14 at the beginning, but the wedding was being planned during the film's conclusion, so maybe she was 15 as a bride when the wedding would eventually take place... :-P). Most of the characters were okay and at first I thought I might enjoy the story and want to read the book someday, but the aunt-nephew bit creeped me out. I also prefer to have romance develop more in the story instead of, what I guess was, "love at first sight." I think the story was reminiscent of "The Pillars of the Earth" (want to read that one) mini-series, but I prefer Pillars a bit more. The actor who played Tadeusz was very good-looking and a couple of the actors in the film were pretty skilled. I also liked the way the film looked: colors, costumes, scenery, etc. Also, I liked the themes, particularly those of freedom and of nationalism, that were shown.