Film -“Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz”

On November 15, 2020, Dot Dot Dot Connect organized an online watch party for the 2019 film “Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz” that was presented by the 32nd Polish Film Festival in America. We chose to share this film because of the moving real-life story it tells about a genius pianist, Mieczysław Kosz. 

The artistic career of the protagonist was tragically cut short in 1973 at the age of 29. And although it only lasted about 6 years, it was long enough to make him an icon of the Polish jazz scene. Kosz was admired by musicians and audiences in his native Poland and beyond not only for his masterful technique, a perfect pitch, or creativity in improvisations but also for an uncanny ability for his music to elicit an emotional response in a listener.

This film is not a simple chronicle presenting an artist who goes ahead of his times, but a heartbreaking story of the daily struggles of a genius who must fight with the limitations of his own body. Against all odds, Kosz, blind from his early years, later suffers from alcoholism and depression, becomes a virtuoso pianist, and conquers the demanding music industry.
But not every brilliant career brings happiness and fulfillment. Its pros and cons intermingle in this elegy of a challenging and lonely life in the spotlight of fame.

‘Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz’ won the Polish Academy Award for Best Film Score (2020) and Polish Academy Award for Best Sound. Extraordinary music by another Polish musician, Leszek Możdżer, complements the picture directed by Maciej Pieprzyca.