Polish

An idealistic scientist is encouraged by his wife to use his good looks to get ahead, but his new job carries with it temptations and traps.Read More »

A rational young man and his devoutly Catholic wife believe their sickly son may have leukemia. As they await further tests over a weekend they both struggle with a crisis of faith in both science and Catholicism.Read More »

A woman whose passport was denied under the previous Communist regime by a vindictive party secretary is given a chance to confront the woman and take revenge.Read More »

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can get a person into trouble, so can being framed for a crime one did not commit. “Kiler,” one of Juliusz Machulski’s best comedies, is a story about a taxi driver that is set up. The taxi driver is named Jurek Kiler (Czeary Pazura) and is blamed for the slayings committed by an assassin. The police do not believe the taxi driver, with the last name Kiler, is not the Killer they were searching for and imprison him. Jurek uses the tough reputation of the infamous killer, along with a lot of dumb luck, to his advantage in gaining the respect of the other prisoners. As if things are not bad enough, a mobster frees Jurek from prison. In return for the favor, the mobster wants Jurek to kill a politician. Read More »

Quote:
This is a short story woven into the scenery of Kraków’s students’ festival. The camera is always at the center of events and is accompanied by the main character – Jurek, in search of his sister. In this film, events are part of a larger whole. The main role in this film is filled by Andrzej Paczkowski, now a known historian.Read More »

In the seventeenth century, Father Suryn arrives in Ludyn, a village on what was then the eastern border of Poland, to perform exorcisms on the Ursuline nuns who are allegedly possessed by the devil. While trying to drive evil spirits out of the body of the prioress, Mother Joan, Father Suryn starts experiencing uncomfortably secular and sensual feelings towards her.Read More »

Quote:
Janusz Majewski’s 1962 short feature. Award at the Tours Film Festival, 1963. Source: TVP KULTURA broadcast.

Quote:
Janusz Majewski is one of Poland’s most durable and prolific filmmakers. In a career that spans half a century Majewski has directed a variety of films, with comedies and period pieces predominating. He also made LOKIS, one of Poland’s most famous horror features, and a wealth of horror-themed shorts that comprise a significant body of work in their own right. In fact, I’d argue that Majewski can be counted as the foremost director of Polish horror movies (his only real competition in this regard are his fellow countrymen Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski and Andrzej Zulawski, all of whom have made the majority of their films outside Poland).Read More »

In what appears to be an inexplicable incident, a man drives up to a resort hotel in midwinter, throws away his car keys, enters, and proceeds to agitate everyone he meets with his urgency — a message he is somehow unable to communicate. Then he leaves, disappearing in the snow. Later, the people he appeared to have upset have gathered to search for him and find him frostbitten, but alive. Visiting him at the sanatorium to which he has been taken, they gradually discover what was really happening.Read More »

An early Zanussi short. Fun fact: it’s called “Plane from Budapest” but the only arriving plane in the movie is from Amsterdam.
Quote:
Here we see short scenes from a random day at the airport. We have flying planes, landings, passport checking scenes, passengers waiting for their relatives. This documentary shows the ordinary but unique behaviors and reactions of the passengers and the airport maintenance staff.Read More »