AllMovie

Krzysztof Zanussi's Za Sciana (Behind the Wall), a short feature made for Polish television, concerns the unlikely romance between Jan, an established professor of biochemistry, and Anna, an emotionally unstable young woman who applies for a job under his aegis. Both are sensitive to the idea of being vulnerable in a relationship, and although they sense mutual attraction and interest, the partners ultimately withdraw from each other out of fear. Soon after, Anna makes an unsuccessful suicide attempt, but passing through the act unscathed imparts to her a level of self-assurance and confidence that she lacked prior to it. The roles in the relationship are suddenly reversed, with Jan evincing neurosis and need, and Anna self-sufficient. Za Sciana took the Grand Prix and won the Best Actress prize for Maja Komorowska at the 1971 San Remo Film Festival.