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Siedem życzeń (ang.Seven Wishes) – a Polish TV comedy series for young viewers (1984). The production was critically acclaimed and became one of the most famous TV series for young viewers on Polish television. Nine tracks were recorded for the series by the Polish pop music band Wanda i Banda, including the title song 'Siedem życzeń', which became a major hit for the band. In 2008, 'Siedem życzeń' was published on DVD, and on 4 November 2009 a CD soundtrack album was released containing songs from the series as 'Piosenki z serialu Siedem życzeń' ('The songs from TV series Seven Wishes').

The plot

The story is about a 13-year-old boy named Darek who rescues a black cat called Rademenes from a group of violent youths. It turns out that the cat is not a mere pet: Rademenes can actually speak. Grateful to have been saved, Rademenes promises to grant seven of Darek's wishes, one wish each Wednesday (the day Darek saved Rademenes’s life). At first the boy doesn’t know how to use the power to ask for useful things and his wishes are thoughtless. Rademenes quickly becomes Darek’s fast friend and enjoys granting his wishes. He cheers the boy up in hard times, and the boy takes good care of the cat, keeping his amazing abilities a secret.

In Episode 6 it turns out that the cat used to be a human in ancient Egypt, and was condemned to get reincarnated as a cat for millennia because he had revealed the heliocentric theory to the Egyptians and explained the effects of solar and lunar eclipses to the people.

In the last episode, Darek gives up his last wish to Rademenes so that Rademenes can become human again. He takes the name of Senemedar (Rademenes spelled backwards) and joins Darek’s father's as a co-worker.

The series contains seven episodes (the same as the number of Darek's wishes).

List of Episodes

Rademenes

Spojrzenie faraona (The Pharaoh's Look)

Być dorosłym (To be an Adult)

Dużo szczęścia i słodyczy (Sweet and Happy Things)

Magiczny pierścień (The Magic Ring) Klątwa Bogini Bast (The Curse of Goddess Bast) Senemedar

Trivia

The credits show a wrong year of production - 1983 instead of 1984.

Some of the shooting was done in Warsaw, in Gocław-Orlik (a housing estate), where a playground was built specifically for the film and remained in use for a couple of years afterwards.

Most of the shooting for Episode 6 was done in Varna, Bulgaria. The local desert was used to shoot scenes taking place in Ancient Egypt.

It was rumoured that the cat’s actual owner was paid out compensation for her pet, who was allegedly euthanized so that his dead mouth could be made to move for the conversation scenes. However, the cat’s head and mouth movements suggest that it was alive, and a loop playback technique was used instead to shoot the scenes. Moreover, the pupils of a dead cat would have been dilated, and this is never the case in any of the episodes. A documentary survives in the archives of TVP (Polish state TV) discussing the technical difficulties involved in shooting the talking cat scenes.

In Episode 3, Darek takes the form of his father (after his wish is granted), and goes to the cinema to see the Polish comedy Seksmisja, a runaway box office hit playing 1984.

In Episodes 4 and 5, a photograph of Izabela Trojanowska (a Polish pop singer) is visible on Darek’s nightstand in spite of the fact that her images were banned by the censors after Trojanowska emigrated from Poland.

The scenes in the characters' flat were shot at 6 Lazurowa Street in Jelonki (another Polish housing estate in Warsaw), Staircase 4, 10th Floor (top floor).

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