represent Polish culture and
which should be sent back to the
mountains. Though she fails to
impress Wiktor’s female co-se-
lector, the teenage Zula’s looks
and feistiness strike a chord with
the older man, who selects her
for a place at the school and
soon embarks on a sexual rela-
tionship with his student.
One day Zula confesses that
new life in Paris on his own.
Unable to return to his home-
land where he would face a
lengthy imprisonment, Wiktor
assumes he has seen the last
of his young lover, but over the
next two decades, Zula and Wik-
tor are reunited and then sepa-
rated several times.
In one of Wiktor and Zula’s first
interactions, Wiktor has his stu-
One day Zula confesses that she has been
secretly working for the Polish authorities
she has been secretly working
for the Polish authorities, who
have suspicions about Wiktor’s
political allegiances. While on a
trip to East Berlin for a festival
of music involving Europe’s vari-
ous communist nations, Wiktor
attempts to convince Zula to flee
across the border with him, but
she chickens out at the last mo-
ment, leaving him to begin a
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 51
dent practice her vocal range,
literally manipulating her voice
with the keys of his piano. Once
in a relationship with Zula how-
ever, Wiktor finds he is unable to
pull her strings to his demands,
a frustration that will disrupt the
relationship over the next 15
years. The image reoccurs later,
in ‘60s Paris, when Wiktor is pro-
ducing Zula’s jazz record, and
INDEX
NEXT ARTICLE
18