Created: Friday, September 14. 2007

The most expensive ever big-budget movie is about to be made in Poland. “Victoria” retells the story of the Polish victory in the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Possible highlights include Hollywood cast and “Lord of the Rings” special effects crew.

The budget for the movie is to be 200 million zloty (50 million euro).

The ambitious plans for the project include asking Mel Gibson to direct and play the part of king Sobieski for 20 million dollars, casting Robert De Niro, as well as getting the famous “Lord of the Ring” crew to create special effects.

The first ever film fund in Poland is being created by Mariusz A. Bialek, producer of “Victoria”. Investors will buy shares and make profit when, or rather if, the film starts to gross money.

Such funds have been successful abroad.

“A film fund would definitely prove an interesting change for investors, especially in a time of prolonged corrections of the stock market. Films can be a highly profitable investment, but a risky one as well”, Mateusz Walczak, President of New World Alternative Investments told Puls Biznesu.

The fund will be open so anyone will be able to buy shares. “The price per share has not yet been established”, says Bialek, who will pay for the film with his own money.

He first got interested in making the movie after the 9/11 attacks. “The associations seemed obvious. Here was another clash of two religious worlds. 11 September 1683 Muslim fighters were also at the heart of Western civilization. And then too the Western world united”, recounts Bialek.

The work on “Victoria” started 3 years ago when Bialek asked scriptwriter Cezary Harasimowicz to write the script.

Getting such stars as Mel Gibson involved are optimistic, however, as his diary is full for the next six years.

Rakossy by Cecelia Holland would make a great movie. And the story would resonate with current times. This is a review from Amazon that describes the book: It describes my opinion better than I could.

RAKOSSY was written in 1967 and, intentionally or not, Cecelia Holland presaged the current Christian-Muslim conflict by 30 years. Or perhaps instead, that conflict has never really ended and Ms. Holland had merely coincidentally selected a slice of history ripe for story-telling. Anyway, in RAKOSSY we have Muslims invading Europe, which some think is dangerously close to happening now in a non-military style immigration-political takeover of Christian democratic Europe. Rakossy is the name of a small-time Hungarian border baron on the frontier with the Turkish empire, who decides, in 1525, to defend his castle against a Turkish invasion. Baron Rakossy is a rational man and therefore a modern man, putting aside all other considerations but what is logical and necessary for survival. Rakossy's character is contrasted with his brother, Denis, an efeminate, poetic soul, a lover and not a fighter -- Rakossy's opposite. The Turks are led by the wily Mustafa, the Sultan's commander. This is the second novel of Ms. Holland's, her first being THE FIREDRAKE. I have read RAKOSSY maybe a half dozen times and it never gets old. Unfortunately, this book is currently out of print but can be found in the used book market or at the library. A very entertaining and well-written novel in the terse, crisp style Ms. Holland is known for, RAKOSSY is highly recommended for all fiction lovers, not just historical novel fans. I still think THE FIREDRAKE is her best book but I keep re-reading RAKOSSY, which should tell me something.