The Polish Cultural Institute in London and the BFI present the Closing Gala of the 2022 Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, featuring a screening of the silent film Forbidden Paradise accompanied by a live score.
Young military officer Alexei (Rod La Rocque) rescues Catherine (Pola Negri), the Czarina of a small kingdom in Eastern Europe, from a group of revolutionaries who are plotting against her. The Czarina ‘rewards’ him in the bedroom, causing Alexei to fall head over heels in love with her, only to find out that he is far from the only royal consort. Stung, Alexei joins a rebellion against the monarchy, vowing that no harm will come to Catherine. But the rakish Chancellor (Adolphe Menjou) has plans to quash this new threat… Made during the golden era of Hollywood silent cinema, Forbidden Paradise is a wonderful comic drama adapted from a 1922 Broadway play, starring the much-loved Polish performer Pola Negri, alongside an early cameo from Clark Gable.
We are pleased to present the most complete version of Forbidden Paradise in almost 100 years, thanks to a new digital restoration by the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.
The screening of Forbidden Paradise will be accompanied by a live score performed by Marcin Pukaluk, a composer, performer and producer with a deep connection to silent cinema, having previously scored the likes of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The General (1926), and Metropolis (1927) for an array of international film festivals.
