20 October 2020
Shooting has wrapped on “Dial W for Murder”, directed by Piotr Mularuk (“Yuma”). The project features, among others, Ania Smołowik, Paweł Domagała, Przemysław Stippa, Jacek Knap, Olga Sarzyńska, Rafał Królikowski, Dorota Segda, Szymon Bobrowski and Piotr Adamczyk. The premiere is planned for 2021. Here are the first stills.
“Dial W for Murder” is a suspenseful whodunit in the Agatha Christie vein and a comedy of manners rolled into one. Magda, who long ago gave up her career for her family, lives in Podkowa Leśna, a Garden City just outside Warsaw. One evening she accidentally discovers the body of a murdered woman in the park. The victim is wearing a pendant in the shape of the letter “W” – identical to the one belonging to her long-lost friend, Weronika. Lurking in the background of the murder are the well-known names of a businessman and a candidate for the Senate. The official investigation is led by Inspector Jacek Sikora, an old friend of Magda’s who was once in love with her. Since his greatest challenge so far has been bicycle thieves, a corpse in the park is decidedly beyond him. Magda, a compulsive reader of crime fiction, launches her own inquiry. On the trail of the killer and the solution to the mystery, their paths will cross many times. A handsome veterinarian will also appear on the horizon, with plans of his own for Magda, neglected by her husband, and the case of the mysterious death will bring to light more than one inconvenient secret of the charming town’s residents.
The leading roles are played by Ania Smołowik and Paweł Domagała. They are joined by Przemysław Stippa, Jacek Knap, Olga Sarzyńska, Rafał Królikowski, Dorota Segda, Szymon Bobrowski and Piotr Adamczyk. The supporting cast includes Emma Giegżno, Sandra Herbich, Przemysław Bluszcz and Jowita Budnik.
Already in “Yuma”, Piotr Mularuk drew liberally on pop culture and the film canon. It will be no different with “Dial W for Murder”:
– I believe in auteur commercial cinema. As we all know, the master of such cinema was Alfred Hitchcock. The title of the book that inspired the screenplay immediately pointed me in that direction. “Dial W for Murder” is a reference to Hitchcock’s famous film “Dial M for Murder”. So Hitchcock became our cinematic inspiration and our signpost in telling a crime comedy set in Podkowa Leśna. For weeks we devoured the master’s films in order to single out the most characteristic features of his work, which could then find their way into our film in a coherent and attractive fashion. These inspirations concerned the way of filming as well as the choice of colours, costumes and locations. We did not want to “recreate” Hitchcock but, following in the master’s footsteps, to play an intelligent and enjoyable game with the audience. Interestingly, “Hitch’s” films are not only dread and suspense, but often a sense of humour and a fair dose of romance. In our film too, along the axis of crime cinema, there are plenty of humorous scenes interwoven with threads of romantic cinema, says the director and co-screenwriter.
The film was shot in August and September in Podkowa Leśna, as well as at the Służewiec Horse Racing Track in Warsaw.
