Krzysztof Kolberger Movies

Celebrated Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda takes the helm for this Oscar-nominated drama detailing the harrowing events surrounding the 1940 massacre of captured Polish army officers in the Katyn Forest. A unique blend of conventional narrative and documentary-style filmmaking, Katyn opens in the spring of 1940, just as the Soviet Secret police execute a group of Polish officers. On September 1, 1939, Germen forces had descended upon Poland, paving the way for the Red Army to occupy east Poland as part of the Hitler-Stalin pact. As the Red Army assumed control of east Poland, all officers in the Polish army were placed in Soviet custody. Determined to remain loyal to the army despite the growing danger, Polish officer Andrzej refuses to flee with his wife, Anna. It isn't long before invading forces begin arresting professors in Cracow, and as the detainees languish in prison camps, their families start to fear that they'll never see their loved ones again. Flash forward to April 1943, and the Germans announce the discovery of mass graves. While Anna is relieved not to hear her husband's name on the list of bodies discovered, countless others are left to grieve their losses with no explanation or consolation. January 18, 1945: Cracow is liberated by the Red Army, and propagandist newsreels from the Soviet Union blame German forces for the massacre at Katyn. It is at that point that the fine line between collaboration and resistance within the People's Republic of Poland becomes exceptionally blurred. As the details surrounding the massacre gradually begin to emerge, Wajda reveals precisely how this horrifying massacre unfolded by flashing back to the spring of 1940 for an extended sequence in which Polish officer internees are transported by railroad to Smolensk and methodically dispatched before being casually buried in a mass grave. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda adapts a nationally treasured epic poem to the silver screen. For 400 years, Lithuania and Poland were linked, until the country was partitioned in 1795 by aggressive nations at its borders -- Russia, Prussia, and the Austrian empire. At that point, the formerly huge nation simply ceased to exist. Yet one hope remained for the patriotic Poles yearning for autonomy -- France. Napoleon promised to restore the Polish homeland if they, in turn, helped him defeat Russia. Thousands of Poles were part of the French force that reached the gates of Moscow before being forced into a long and bloody retreat. The film itself centers on two families who live in the Russian-controlled part of Poland: the Horeszkos, who ardently favor independence, and the Soplicas, who support Russia. In 1792, the last household lord of the Horeszkos was killed by Jacek Soplica; as a result, the latter was rewarded with the former's castle by the Russian colonizers. Twenty years later, the region is rife with rumors of Napoleon's imminent invasion. A destitute Count (Marek Kondrat) and heir to the Horeszko family estate almost throws his lot in with the richer and more powerful Soplica clan before he stumbles upon Gervais (Daniel Olbrychski), who reminds him of the treacherous murder of his ancestor. Meanwhile, Tadeusz (Michal Zebrowski), the rakish nephew of Judge Soplica (Andrzej Seweryn), who symbolizes all that is good and right about Poland, is confronted with a choice upon returning from university. He can either give his heart to the beautiful, pure, 14-year-old Sosia (Alicja Bachleda-Curus), a distant cousin of the Horeszkos who is living with the Soplicas, or he can opt instead for the worldly, sophisticated, St. Petersburg-educated Telimena (Grazyna Szapolowska), who is related to both clans. This film, which in many ways sums up Wajda's long and illustrious career, was a massive success in its native Poland. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This Polish slice-of-life film, set in pre-WW II, offers a glimpse of life in a small resort where two social classes converge. On one hand there is the elite class of bourgeoisie tourists who come there to paint, write, and reflect upon their deserved fortune. On the other, there are the peasants who are at the mercy of the tourists. In one scene a tourist woman marches into a peasant home and begins talking art off the walls. In another, an aspiring artiste demands a peasant child pose barefoot in polluted water. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this grim drama set in World War Two Poland, Tadzik is an accordian player who has been sent to the Nazi concentration camps for participating in the Resistance. There, he survives the brutal and dehumanizing conditions by any means possible. Ironically, the chief reason he is allowed to live is that he can play the musical tune Kornblumenblau on his accordian. This bleak portrayal of life in the concentration camps is based on Kazimierz Tyminski's book To Silence the Dream, which recounts his experiences there. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The labyrinthine plot deals with a group of space researchers who left the Earth to find freedom. Their spaceship crashes and they land on the dark side of the Moon. They all die except one and leave a lot of children who eventually turn to shamanism and fire worship. They call the last survivor the Old Man and simultaneously loathe and revere him. Finally, the Old Man retreats to the mountains, puts his video diary into a small rocket and sends it to Earth. The rocket reaches its destination and the notes fall into the hands of another group of researchers. One of them, Marek, journeys to the Old Man's planet and lands in the mountains. When he emerges from the hills, the aboriginal inhabitants mistake him for the long-awaited reincarnation of the Old Man and look to him to deliver them from the dreaded sherns -- strange, winged mutants. The making of this film in 1978 was brutally interrupted by the Polish Ministry of Culture. When about 80% of the shooting was complete, they ordered the filmmakers to destroy all related materials. This decision caused director Andrzej Zulawski to leave his homeland for France, where he spent the next ten years. During the democratization of the Polish political regime in 1986-1987, Zulawski returned to the country to finish the picture. Having lost the sets, costumes, actors, and momentum, the director chose to complete the film from the spared footage, adding a voiceover for the missing episodes and utilizing other actors to dub the original actors who were no longer available. Even in this mutilated form, the film appears as a highly ambitious, if overwrought, sci-fi epic that draws upon philosophical concepts rather than special effects. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Elegantly costumed and well-acted, this tragic story of a wealthy Lithuanian commoner who marries King Zygmunt II of Poland (1520-1572) reveals clashes between kingly duty and personal love. By the time King Zygmunt's wife Elizabeth dies, he has already fallen in love with Barbara Radziwill, a wealthy Lithuanian but not of noble birth. The king marries Barbara, flying in the face of his mother's wishes and those of the Polish parliament -- but his happiness was not destined to last for long. Parallel to his personal love for this Lithuanian woman, Zygmunt II would officially unite Lithuania and Poland as one country during his reign. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Bearing traces of the old Anton Chekhov play The Wedding, The Contract is set during an "arranged" ceremony. The bride and groom barely know each other, but this matters not at all to their tradition-bound families. At the last minute, the bride balks. Only slightly nonplused, the groom's father, a status-seeking doctor, decides to go ahead with the expensive reception anyway. Polish director Krzysz Zanussi uses this scenario to stick it to capitalist corruption, and to society's destruction of the individual spirit. Leslie Caron, the one recognizable member of the cast, is outstanding as a wealthy, over-the-hill ballerina who happens to be a kleptomaniac. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide