Andrzej Wajda returns once again to Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s work, after Brzezina (The Birch Wood), Panny z Wilka (The Maids of Wilko), and the teleplay Noc czerwcowa (June Night). As the director himself explains, it’s mainly because the accomplished poet and writer created the most beautiful female characters in Polish literature. This definitely applies to Marta (a brilliant Krystyna Janda), an aging woman struggling with boredom and the weight of her memories. She lives in a small town with her husband, a workaholic doctor. One day, she meets a young man who makes her remember what love, or even physical attraction, feels like. This unexpected encounter will trigger emotional reactions she would never have expected. Sweet Rush is a film about life and about death: the Polish title Tatarak references the plant known as sweet flag or calamus. In Wajda’s words, “Sweet flag has two smells. If you gently rub the green, slightly creased leaf with your fingers, you can smell the delicate odor of something beautiful (…). But the smell of the roots is different. In this muddy stench you can smell death”.