Katarzyna Figura Movies

Director Piotr Uklanski breaks new ground in the realm of Polish cinema with this symbolic western that can be viewed as either contemporary art or simple entertainment. The first Polish western in the history of cinema, Summer Love opens as the nameless Stranger (Karel Roden) gallops into town toting the corpse of a Wanted Man (Val Kilmer). Subsequently entering into an affair with the local barmaid (Katarzyna Figura), The Stranger soon becomes embroiled in a sordid love triangle between the pretty drink-slinger and the booze-guzzling sheriff (Boguslaw Linda). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Award-winning Polish director Marek Koterski takes an unflinching look at the pathological effects of severe alcoholism on familial relationships in the no-holds-barred drama We're All Christs (Wszyscy jestes'my Chrystusami). The story concerns Adas (played at ages 33 and 55 by Andrzej Chyra, and Marek Kondrat, respectively), a father caught in the web of alcohol addiction passed down from the generations before him. The disease once threatened to destroy his own relationship with his young son. Now, after admitting his own problem and experiencing therapy and rehabilitation, Adas takes the first steps toward a challenging reconnection with his family and attempts to rebuild long-decimated bonds. As a lapsed Roman Catholic, he begins to turn toward the faith that he shunned as a youth, and recognizes the necessity of turning away from the evil, abusive legacy of his father on earth and toward his Heavenly Father as a far-superior alternative. In the end, his Catholicization will partially entail turning to Christ as a role model by assuming responsibility for his own earthly burdens (and thus, taking up his cross). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

One of the most important figures in the Polish cinema, director Andrzej Wajda, teams up with the nation's most famous filmmaking expatriate, Roman Polanski, in this light comedy based on a perennially popular stage farce by Aleksandr Fredo. Czesnik (Janusz Gajos) and Rejent (Andrzej Seweryn) are the combative scions of two prominent families fallen on hard times, both of whom have the poor fortune of having homes which share a common courtyard. Czesnik's niece Klara (Agata Buzek) has fallen in love with Waclaw (Rafal Krolikowski), Rejent's son. However, Rejent has promised his son to Podstolina (Katarzyna Figura), a beautiful widow who has attracted Czesnik's eye. Meanwhile, Papkin (Roman Polanski), a former nobleman short on both cash and courage, hopes to wed Klara, but as a neutral party in the feud between the two clans, Klara thinks she might be able to use Papkin for her own purposes to bring her together with Waclaw. A major box-office hit in Poland, Zemsta marked the first time Wajda and Polanski had worked together since Pokolenie in 1952. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who as a boy growing up in Poland watched while the Nazis devastated his country during World War II, directed this downbeat drama based on the true story of a privileged musician who spent five years struggling against the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) is a gifted classical pianist born to a wealthy Jewish family in Poland. The Szpilmans have a large and comfortable flat in Warsaw which Wladyslaw shares with his mother and father (Maureen Lipman and Frank Finlay), his sisters Halina and Regina (Jessica Kate Meyer and Julia Rayner), and his brother, Henryk (Ed Stoppard). While Wladyslaw and his family are aware of the looming presence of German forces and Hitler's designs on Poland, they're convinced that the Nazis are a menace which will pass, and that England and France will step forward to aid Poland in the event of a real crisis. Wladyslaw's naïveté is shattered when a German bomb rips through a radio studio while he performs a recital for broadcast. During the early stages of the Nazi occupation, as a respected artist, he still imagines himself above the danger, using his pull to obtain employment papers for his father and landing a supposedly safe job playing piano in a restaurant. But as the German grip tightens upon Poland, Wladyslaw and his family are selected for deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. Refusing to face a certain death, Wladyslaw goes into hiding in a comfortable apartment provided by a friend. However, when his benefactor goes missing, Wladyslaw is left to fend for himself and he spends the next several years dashing from one abandoned home to another, desperate to avoid capture by German occupation troops. The Pianist was based on the memoir of the same name by the real-life Wladyslaw Szpilman; the book was first published in 1946 as Death of a City, but was banned by Polish Communist officials and went out of print until 1998, when a new edition was issued as The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jerzy Stuhr scripted, directed and plays four roles in this Polish comedy about four men -- an army officer, a college instructor, a priest, and a drug dealer -- and their relationships with four females. An attractive student (Dominika Ostalowska) puts the teacher in an awkward spot when she reveals her love for him. An 11-year-old (Karolina Ostrozna) informs the priest that she's his daughter. The army officer is pleased when confronted by a past lover (Irina Alfiorowa). The drug dealer, taken prisoner, must decide whether or not to trust his wife (Katarzyna Figura) with his hidden loot. In the wrap-up, the elderly accountant (Jerzy Nowak) passes judgment on all four men. Stuhr acted in films by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski, who had some input here by offering advice to Stuhr on this screenplay. Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival, this film is also known as Love Stories. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Edward Redlinski adapted his own novel and play for this Polish comedy-drama focusing on several Manhattan misfits. Six immigrants seen over four Sundays in December are: a lawyer-criminal who involves his kid brother for a drug heist, a meat-plant laborer hoping to bring over his wife and half-dozen kids, an alcoholic, and an entrepreneur obsessed by the American Dream. The entrepreneur's sister works as a housekeeper for a crippled man who lusts for her. These tales are intercut with home videos from family members back in Poland. Shown at 1998 film fests Gdynia, Karlovy Vary). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

As he sleeplessly tosses and turns in his bed, the middle-aged protagonist of this Polish film (played by Zbigniew Rola) remembers his many purely sexual encounters with women who were as determined to achieve sexual release as he was. These couplings are shown in the form of flashbacks, and his general attitude of despair at his lack of human connection with these women becomes increasingly evident. As a result of his promiscuity, he also has become a familiar figure at VD clinics. Despite the titillating nature of the images (and the consequent popularity of the film in Poland), the overall message of the movie is that promiscuous, loveless sex is debasing in precisely the same way that pornography is. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Try pronouncing the title of the Polish comedy-fantasy Kingsajz and you'll tumble to its English-language title. That's right . . . Kingsize. The hero lives in the dwarf land of Shuflandia, a microscopic country located in the cellar of a library. As a result of his good behavior, the hero is enlarged to human size by a magic potion. Once he finds himself in the "real" world, he begins asking himself why he'd ever want to remain. A few minutes later, he understands why: in Shuflandia, there are no women. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The titular mode of transportation in Train to Hollywood passes over the borders between Reality and Fantasy several times during the course of the film. The central character is a young Polish girl addicted to Hollywood movies. She spends her waking hours fantasizing about being Marilyn Monroe. In fact, she is a lowly dining-car worker on a slow- moving passenger train. Before fadeout time, wish fulfillment has fully exerted itself and the girl has become a legend in her own mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide