Ferdynand Matysik Movies
- 1993
Filmed in Eastern Europe, this direct-to-cable adaptation of Mary Shelley's iconographic monster tale features Patrick Bergin as Victor Frankenstein, a medical genius obsessed with the secret of creating life, who uses a bizarre cloning apparatus to grow a complete human being (Randy Quaid) from his own cellular material. Though sensitive and intelligent, the rebellious humanoid is driven by a murderous rage against his creator, compelling him to destroy everything that he holds dear. Aside from the introduction of a psychic link between Victor and his monstrous genetic offspring -- a concept never satisfyingly explored -- this adaptation brings nothing particularly fresh or revolutionary to Shelley's novel. However, production values are admirably high and performances are superb throughout, particularly that of John Mills as the blind forest hermit who befriends the monster. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In a routine, somewhat sudsy melodrama about the hard knocks of a coal-miner, Nowaczek (Jaroslaw Dunaj) has opted for work in the mines over work in the army -- but the difference seems to be minimal. His time is split between the mines, the barracks he shares with his mining buddies, and the bars. Talk centers around women, but action is more likely to center around the ping-pong table. Interspersed between the days of routine are moments of danger in the mines -- a fatal accident and a near-fatal accident -- and moments of triumph in the dating and mating rituals. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jaroslaw Dunan, Tadeusz Chudecki, (more)
- 1977
Janusz Kijowski wrote and directed Index, based on a story by Andrzej Pastuszek and meant to be released in 1977 -- until it was banned. Four more years would elapse before Index received its first restricted viewing in Warsaw, and on the heels of that showing, the film premiered in Cannes. Censorship came down hard because the message within the story might have been interpreted by some as a criticism against the Polish state. In March of 1968, an idealistic student loudly protests when a fellow student is expelled from the university on trumped-up charges. Rather than stick with a scholastic system lacking in minimal moral standards, the student dumps everything and leaves, losing his girlfriend, his career objectives, his friends, and his housing. He ends up delivering coal and while in that job, sees a fellow worker die in an accident. Upset at that event, he writes it up as a compelling true story and sends it in to a state publisher -- only to be thwarted again when the publisher demands changes he cannot ethically make. Just because he has stayed with his ideals -- which are not extreme -- he has no friends and not much of a life. After a while, his essay is interpreted in a film version that is an instant success -- and the student is left to ponder the vagaries of fate as his perpetual rejection by others is overturned through no effort of his own. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Zaleski, Justyna Kulczycka, (more)
- 1971
This is another Polish political satire that was held back for 10 years after its completion in 1971 because of its content. The settings, gestures, deadpan reactions, non-action, and black-and-white film convey a sense of the "going nowhere" atmosphere of a poverty-stricken couple in a small town. The man (Henryk Hunko) and wife (Asia Lumtiugina) have to take in a boarder (Witold Pyrkosz) to make ends meet, and he sleeps in the kitchen while they sleep in the living room with their two children. Their boarder, a former school mate of the husband, is really a con artist who can talk his way into and out of almost any situation. He is making the circuit of these small towns, setting up rigged card games to bilk as many of the unwitting players as he can. The husband and wife are respectable people, but the con artist can go either way. On the one hand, he manages to seduce the wife - though she later rejects him totally - and on the other, he gets a job for the husband via his "conning" talents, and also shows patience in the extreme when he tries to teach him how to use an elevator. It is the interaction between the principals and the unstated truths that carry the story of this brief visit to an impoverished family of four and their unlikely guest. Director Antoni Krauze won the Silver Lion award at the 1981 Gdansk Film Festival for this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Witold Pyrkosz
