To Kill a Priest
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Agnieszka Holland
Screenplay by	Agnieszka Holland Jean-Yves Pitoun
Story by	Agnieszka Holland
Produced by	Jean-Pierre Alessandri
Starring	Christopher Lambert Ed Harris David Suchet Tim Roth Joanne Whalley Pete Postlethwaite Cherie Lunghi Joss Ackland
Cinematography	Adam Holender
Edited by	Hervé de Luze
Music by	Georges Delerue
Production company	France 3 Cinéma
Distributed by	AMLF (France)[1] Columbia Pictures (International)
Release dates	September 7, 1988 (France) October 13, 1989 (USA)
Running time	117 minutes
Countries	France USA
Language	English

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 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]

Cast

• Christopher Lambert as Father Alek
• Ed Harris as Stefan
• Joss Ackland as Colonel
• Tim Roth as Feliks
• Timothy Spall as Igor
• Pete Postlethwaite as Josef
• Cherie Lunghi as Halina
• Joanne Whalley as Anna
• David Suchet as Bishop
• Jerome Flynn
• Vincent Grass

Discography

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

Reception

Critical response

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]