Self-Portrait with a Lover (1996): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1996, Self-Portrait with a Lover is a drama and romance film directed by Radosław Piwowarski, running about 83 minutes.

What it’s about. It is July 1995. Kuba Mitura and his little daughter, Zuza, come to a great concert organised by Jurek Owsiak. Kuba tells the girl the story of his youth. It is 1988. The nineteen-year-old Kuba is a rebellious boy with two-coloured hair. He does not study or work. He lives with his father, a retired military man, bitter and apodictic and with his aunt. One day Kuba meets Diana, a beautiful and eccentric woman, a dozen or so years older than him, a person from the "hostile world". However, the two of them become friends. The father throws Cuba out of the house when he introduces Diana as his fiancée. Soon Diana and Cuba get married to a "hippie", but the military policemen, who have been sent by the father, take Cuba away. In the army, Cuba is doing absurd exercises under the watchful eye of Corporal Kos trying to raise him. The father takes the oath and Diana, who confesses to Cuba that she is pregnant and wants to give birth. But Cuba does not want to become a father.

Who’s in it. Self-Portrait with a Lover stars Katarzyna Figura as Diana, Waldemar Błaszczyk as Kuba, Jerzy Trela as Józef Mitura, ojciec Kuby and Mirosław Baka as kapral Kos, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.1/10, Self-Portrait with a Lover has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Self-Portrait with a Lover page.

If you liked it. Fans of Self-Portrait with a Lover tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.