To Kill a Priest is a 1988 drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. The film tells a story based on the murder, under the Polish communist regime, of the priest Jerzy Popiełuszko.[2] It stars Christopher Lambert as a fictionalized version of Popiełuszko and Ed Harris as the secret police captain set to assassinate him.[3]

To Kill a Priest
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAgnieszka Holland
Screenplay byAgnieszka Holland
Jean-Yves Pitoun
Story byAgnieszka Holland
Produced byJean-Pierre Alessandri
StarringChristopher Lambert
Ed Harris
David Suchet
Tim Roth
Joanne Whalley
Pete Postlethwaite
Cherie Lunghi
Joss Ackland
CinematographyAdam Holender
Edited byHervé de Luze
Music byGeorges Delerue
Production
company
Distributed byAMLF (France)[1]
Columbia Pictures (International)
Release dates
  • September 7, 1988 (1988-09-07) (France)
  • October 13, 1989 (1989-10-13) (USA)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageEnglish

Cast

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Discography

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The CD soundtrack composed and conducted by Georges Delerue is available on the Music Box Records label (website). The main theme, "Crimes of Cain", was written and performed by Joan Baez.

Reception

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Critical response

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To Kill a Priest has an approval rating of 67% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews, and an average rating of 5.8/10.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "To Kill a Priest (1988)". UniFrance. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  2. ^ To Kill a priest review, Entertainment Weekly, April 6, 1990
  3. ^ To Kill a Priest at AllMovie
  4. ^ "To Kill a Priest". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
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