Krzysztof Zanussi Movies
A one-time physics scholar, Polish-born Krzysztof Zanussi began making amateur movies in the late '50s, after chancing to take a film course at the University of Warsaw. He graduated the Lodz film school with Death of a Provincial (1966), which won an award at the Venice Film Festival. He emerged as a director/screenwriter in the late '60s and early '70s, primarily working for Polish television, until the '80s, when his association with the Solidarity movement forced him into exile in West German and Swiss productions. One of his films, The Catamount Killing (1974), was shot in English, and his work since the mid-'80s has seen wider international financing and distribution. Zanussi's work is defined by its devotion to ideas at the expense of emotionalism, and intellectualism without overt passions, which did not prevent his fall from grace with the government during Solidarity's temporary defeat in the mid-'80s. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 2008
In this moral fable from Poland, Konstanty (Bohdan Stupka) is a wealthy and amoral man who has made his fortune running a chain of supermarkets and has both the bank account and the lack of conscience to do anything he wants. One of Konstanty's many employees is Stefan (Marek Kudelko), a kind and generous young man who runs a cash register at one of his markets. Stefan loses his job when a manager discovers he's been undercharging groceries for senior citizens who can't afford them; adding insult to injury, a few hours later Stefan loses both his girlfriend (Marta Zmuda-Trzebiatowska) and his flat. Falling into a deep depression, Stefan tries to kill himself, and is taken to the emergency room around the same time Konstanty is admitted to the hospital following a sudden heart attack. When Konstanty's assistant Angelo (Szymon Bobrowski) learns that one of his boss's former underlings is also receiving treatment and is expected to survive, he passes the news along to Konstanty, and they hatch a scheme to offer the principled young man a small fortune in exchange for his healthy heart if and when it's needed. Serce na dloni (aka And A Warm Heart) was an official selection at the 2008 Rome Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2008
A former athlete seek a second chance in life through the game he abandoned years ago in this drama from Poland. Jacek (Marcin Dorocinski) used to be a talented soccer player who had earned a position on the national team. But when a serious injury put Jacek's career on hold, his life fell apart; he developed a serious drinking problem, his wife left him, and he was beaten up by toughs. Now homeless, Jacek spends his days panhandling in a rail station in Warsaw, where he becomes friends with a handful of other down-and-outers. One of Jacek's new comrades tells him about the Homeless World Cup, an international football tournament designed to give marginalized citizens a chance to prove their talent through sport. When his friends learn that Jacek was once a rising star on the soccer field, they convince him to coach the local homeless soccer team, and as this handful of alcoholics and addicts begin to respond to Jacek's leadership, he regains the self-respect and sense of purpose he lost when he had to quit the game. Directed by Kasia Adamik, Boisko Bezdomnych (aka The Offsiders) also stars Rafal Fudalej, Marek Kalita and Piotra Jagielski. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcin Dorocinski, Rafal Fudalej, (more)
- 2002
Directed by Krzysz Zanussi, this Polish film centers around the ethical dillemas of Tomasz Berg (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz), a doctor whose had to re-examine his own outlook on life after being diagnosed with cancer. Constantly at his heals is an eager young medical student named Filip (Pavel Okraska), who is struggling with issues of faith, drugs, and science himself. While on his death bed, Tomasz gives his apartment key to Filip and his girlfriend, Hanka (onika Krzywkowska), hoping that they'll work through their difficulties and live their lives to the fullest.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pavel Okraska, Monika Krzywkowska, (more)
- 2001
A man struggles to come to terms with a mystery that has haunted him throughout his adult life in this drama from Poland. In 1967, a 13-year-old boy named Dawid discovered a cache of explosives and began experimenting with them; one day, several of his friends saw Dawid wave to them shortly before a massive explosion went off near a railway tunnel, and no one ever saw the young man again. Thirty years later, one of Dawid's close friends, Pawel (Marek Kondrat), returns to Poland for the first time in 11 years to visit Juliane (Juliane Kohler), a woman he used to love. As Pawel returns home, he discovers his thoughts keeps drifting back to Dawid and what might have happened to him that day. Pawel keeps replaying the explosive incident in his mind, and goes so far as to track down Elka (Krystyna Janda), Dawid's girlfriend, who was with him moments before the explosion, though then as now she refuses to talk about what happened. Pawel is unable to determine for sure just what happened or how Dawid died -- or if he did in fact die at all. Weiser was nominated for the Golden Bear award at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marek Kondrat, Krystyna Janda, (more)
Faith, family, and devotion are all explored in Polish director Agnieszka Holland's intense family drama. Julie (Miranda Otto) and her twin children, Nick (Ryan Smith) and Nicole (Bianca Crudo), cut short a ski outing due to Nick suddenly taking ill. As they arrive back at home, Julie catches her husband, Henry (William Fichtner), with another woman and promptly moves to end their marriage. Meanwhile, Nick has another spell similar to the first one and doctors discover a tumor in his brain. Further complicating matters is Nick's allergy to the necessary chemotherapy drugs, which prompts Julie to abandon traditional medicine and seek out a Polish healer named Alexei Ormow (Lothaire Bluteau). As the healer begins making progress on the youngster, Alexei and Julie begin to fall in love with each other -- a development that greatly troubles Julie as she struggles to determine how to proceed in the best interests of her family. In 2002, Julie Walking Home (aka The Healer) was selected for inclusion in the Venice Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miranda Otto, William Fichtner, (more)
- 2000
The title of this film -- taken from graffiti on a wall near director Krzysztof Zanussi's home -- provides ironic commentary on its subject, which revolves around a doctor's questioning of his beliefs when he is confronted with terminal illness. Tomasz (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz) is first seen working as the doctor on the set of a French movie production about the life of Saint Bernard. After his work is finished, he returns to Warsaw, where he makes the unpleasant discovery that he has cancer. Tomasz' only hope is an expensive operation in Paris, and he is forced to ask his ex-wife Anna (Krystyna Janda) -- now remarried to a self-important yuppie -- for money. Anna writes him a check, but when he goes to Paris for the operation, Tomasz is informed that his condition has become inoperable. Facing imminent death, he begins to question the beliefs he has held all his life and, with a sense of fatalistic liberation, starts to experiment with both his own life and those of others. A great success in Poland, Zycie Jako Smiertelna Choroba Przenoszona Droga Plciowa won the Best Picture award at the 2000 Moscow Film Festival. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, Krystyna Janda, (more)
- 1997
For this Italian-Polish-German co-production, Krzysztof Zanussi adapted the 1949 play Brat Naszego Boga by Karol Wojtyla, aka Pope John Paul II. Acknowledging the theatrical origins, the opening takes place in theater dressing rooms where the actors discuss their roles. Early scenes take place on stage before expanding cinematically. John Paul II recently canonized painter-turned-priest Adam Chmielowski as Saint Brother Albert, and the play was a tribute to Chmielowski, who gave up a comfortable life to work with the poor. The story begins in 1863 when Chmielowski (Scott Wilson) joins an uprising against occupying Russians and has a leg amputated. Working as a painter, Chmielowski is seen in his studio with various friends. After encountering a group of homeless people, he devotes much energy to helping them, eventually entering the priesthood to deal with the problems of poverty. Director Zanussi previously dramatized Wojtyla's life in From a Far Country (1981). Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Wilson, Christoph Waltz, (more)
- 1996
This entry in the British Film Institute-sponsored international centenary celebration of cinema in which noted directors present a film that exemplifies their country or region's cinema and its origins, represents Poland. Based on a suggestion by late filmmaker Kryzstof Kieslowski and directed by Pawel Lozinski, the film is comprised of interviews with a wide range of moviegoers asked by unseen interviewers to give their thoughts about Polish cinema. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
The second episode of Krzysztof Zanussi's Polish miniseries Weekend Stories recounts the tale of marrieds Karol (Maciej Robakiewicz) and Iwona (Katarzyna Herman). After struggling financially, the two arrive at a bitter impasse in their relationship when university professor Karol takes an additional weekend job as the executive assistant to a wealthy count (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz). Karol discovers that the count is a militant homosexual with a fondness for preying on young men, and that he has become the unwitting target of his employer's affections. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Of its eight unrelated episodes, Krzysztof Zanussi's Weekend Stories opens with A Woman's Business. In this gripping and suspenseful tale, laced with political undercurrents, Joanna Szczepkowska is Zofia, a Communist woman who once worked quietly for the underground, from her university post. She supported insurgents during the period of Polish martial law, but found herself viciously betrayed by an undercover government secretary-cum-snaky bureaucrat named Lukowska (Magdalena Zawadzka). Zofia visits two female friends at a country estate, who (when they witness Lukowska preening and posturing on television) decide to lure the woman to the estate via a phony import-export scheme. Once Lukowska arrives, they will bar her in, handcuff her, and torture her to extract an apology for her betrayal of Zofia. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Set in the 1950s when Stalin was in power, this thoughtful Polish story is an autobiographical account of filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi's childhood. Hubert is a normal young boy living with his mother in the country. His father has been living in England since the war's end. As a result, the Communists frequently harass them to the point that Hubert's mother sends him to his eccentric Aunt Ida in Warsaw to insure that he gets an education. Ida welcomes her nephew and to help him get along teaches him the art of outwardly toeing the Communist Party line to survive. Ida is shrewd, charming and manipulative, qualities she uses to deftly exploit the government at every turn. The title refers to horseback riding, an activity that both Ida and Hubert enjoy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
This Danish omnibus film consists of 20 shorts, by a bevy of international directors; the project
as a whole was conceived by Danish visual artist Ane Mette Ruge and Dutch opera-director Jacob F. Schokking. The title represents a pun; in addition to its obvious sensationalistic implications (which is used ironically - almost nothing in the film, aside from some incidental nudity, is exploitative), the "everything" refers to the plethora of subjects at hand, with the filmmakers exploring topics from national identity to ornithology, to trips abroad to Vietnam and Brazil, to the history of Berlin. Shown at the 1998 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
as a whole was conceived by Danish visual artist Ane Mette Ruge and Dutch opera-director Jacob F. Schokking. The title represents a pun; in addition to its obvious sensationalistic implications (which is used ironically - almost nothing in the film, aside from some incidental nudity, is exploitative), the "everything" refers to the plethora of subjects at hand, with the filmmakers exploring topics from national identity to ornithology, to trips abroad to Vietnam and Brazil, to the history of Berlin. Shown at the 1998 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This anthology offers five vignettes from different directors and different countries. The second episode, "Steps," is Polish and makes an allegorical examination of the conflict between the pursuit of art and the pursuit of money in contemporary Central Europe as it follows the travails of a ballerina who decides she'd rather perform at a strip joint for her boyfriend than use the full extent of her talent for more artistic endeavors. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
