Krzysztof Majchrzak Movies
Cinema of the surreal icon David Lynch follows up the success of his critically acclaimed 2001 feature Mulholland Drive with this dark mystery, shot on a handheld Sony PD150 digital video recorder. It is the tale of an actress whose personality becomes increasingly fragmented as she delves ever deeper into her work for a high-profile filmmaker. Kingsley (Jeremy Irons) is a director looking to adapt for the screen a Polish gypsy folktale that was previously stalled when the two leads were viciously murdered. Having offered the female lead to devoted actress Nikki (Laura Dern), Kingsley warns her male co-star, Devon (Justin Theroux), to maintain his professional distance, as Nikki's husband (Peter J. Lucas) is known to be notoriously possessive. As the passionate co-stars quickly cross the line and become lovers, Nikki's slowly slipping sense of reality causes her to eventually become lost in her character while the mysterious story of a Polish couple unfurls, and a trio of giant stage-bound rabbits (voices of Naomi Watts, Scott Coffey, and Laura Harring) lounge around on the sofa and tend to their domestic duties. Shot over the course of two and a half years and without a formalized script, Lynch's hallucinogenic look at a doomed film project features all of the abstract imagery and strange symbolism that have long made the director a favorite of film fans who embrace his disorienting approach to unconventional storytelling. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, (more)
Based on the novel by Witold Gombrowicz, writer/director Jan Jakub Kolski's Pornography is set in the Polish countryside during WWII. Witold (Adam Ferency), the narrator, is at a gathering of his intellectual artist friends in Warsaw, where he meets Frederick (Krzysztof Majchrzak), a mysterious, but charming, stranger. They hit it off, so Witold invites Frederick along as he goes to visit the home of his friend Hipolit (Krzysztof Globisz) and his wife Maria (Grazyna Blecka-Kolska). Witold and Frederick become obsessed with arranging the coupling of Hipolit's beautiful teenage daughter, Henia (Sandra Samos), and an equally beautiful young man, Karol (Kazimierz Mazur), who is working at the farm. But Henia is engaged to Vaclav (Grzegorz Damiecki), who is visiting with his deeply religious mother, Amelia (Irena Laskowska). As the two middle-aged gentlemen scheme, Germans fight with the Polish resistance, led by Siemian (Jan Frycz), in the woods nearby. Hipolit supports the resistance and his household is thrown into chaos when he is ordered to "liquidate" Siemian to prevent him from talking if he's captured by the Germans. Meanwhile, Frederick's obsession with Veronika, a pretty young maid at the house, masks a dark secret from his past. Pornography was shown at the 2003 Venice Film Festival and selected for the 2003 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Majchrzak, Adam Ferency, (more)
One of the most expensive Polish films ever made, Jerzy Kawalerowicz directs the ancient Roman filmmaking staple Quo Vadis. This remake follows in the style of the MGM Hollywood epic directed by Mervyn Le Roy in 1951. Set in 64 A.D., the story begins with officer Marcus Vinicius (Pawel Delag) returning to Rome to relax with his uncle Petronius (Boguslaw Linda), who works for Emperor Nero (Michal Bajor). Vinicius becomes interested in Jesus when he goes to a Christian gathering in order to see his sweetheart Lygia (Magdalena Mielcarz). Emperor Nero is opposed to the Christians, which leads the way to a firey, explosive, and violent conclusion. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pawel Delag, Magdalena Mielcarz, (more)
- 1982
The Polish Ko-No-Piel-Ka was adapted by director Witold Leszczynski from the novel by Edward Redlinski. Krzysztof Majchrzak plays Kaziuk, a bull-headed peasant in a backwater Polish village. When a pretty schoolteacher comes to town, the very married Kaziuk is consumed by sexual passion. Unable to satisfy himself in the customary manner, he chops down a tree that has been growing on his family farm for years. He further defies tradition by using a scythe instead of a sickle to cut his grass. Both of these irrational acts brand him as a blasphemous lunatic! It may help to have some background in Polish customs to fully appreciate this sublimely bizarre little film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Majchrzak, Anna Seniuk, (more)
- 1980
Aria Dla Atlety is an engrossing drama based on the lives of three actual wrestlers and set at the turn of the 20th century. The story begins as a young boy joins the circus, enthralled by the wrestling skills of the Abs brothers. The child eventually grows into a proficient and talented wrestler on his own but is thrown out of the circus when he defeats a well-known wrestler. He does not mind leaving because the two circus wrestlers cruelly tormented him at every chance. As the young lad becomes one of the most famous, successful, and wealthiest wrestlers in Poland, his reputation gets him into trouble. It seems one of the Abs brothers is anxious to tackle him in the ring and plans on using all the dirty tricks he knows to defeat him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Majchrzak, Pola Raksa, (more)
- 1980
In this futuristic sci-fi film, based on the legends of the Golem, insane scientists have invented technology that give them total control over the half-human, half-android population of Earth. Trouble ensues when one of the creatures begins showing independent will. He must be destroyed lest he influence the rest. They pursue him, but somehow he continues to elude the evil doctors. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Krystyna Janda, Joanna Zolkowska, (more)
