Jerzy Nowak Movies
In this political satire from Poland, Jerzy Stuhr plays Filip, a factory worker who, after the birth of his first child, buys an 8mm movie camera to record his daughter's first few years on film. Before long, Filip is happily obsessed with his new hobby, and he graduates from simply capturing his daughter's activities to photographing practically everything around him. His movie mania attracts the attentions of his boss, who gives him a new task: making films that will give outsiders a clearer picture of how things work at their factory. However, Filip's ceaseless photography begins to drive his wife (Malgorzata Zabkowska) crazy, and she threatens to leave him, while his boss is not at all happy with Filip's films. They're quite good, earning television broadcast time and winning awards, but their messages don't conform with his party's political and economic agenda, and Filip is warned to soften the tone of his work or he'll lose his job. This dark comedy from director Krzysztof Kieslowski was released in the United States under the title Camera Buff. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerzy Stuhr
- 1980
In this standard drama with universal overtones, ethics, sensitivity, and the arts are pitted against winning at any cost. The leader of each camp is embodied in a schoolteacher who loves music and art and encourages students in that direction, and a ruthless handball coach who loves to win so he can advance his own reputation. When the coach begins to coerce his students into cheating in order to come out ahead, he does not realize how much his lack of morals affects the young men on the handball team. The results are nearly tragic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Zaleski, Jerzy Stuhr, (more)
- 1981
When a Polish fishing vessel sets out for a long-distance run to the Canary Islands, a crab gets caught in the nets as they are reeled in -- a bad omen for the coming voyage. Sure enough, once at the Islands, the sailors are told they have to stay at sea for a few months longer -- and each sailor has his own reaction to that unhappy news. One fisherman in particular has been thinking of his wife Joanna and her insistence that he give up his sea-faring life and find a job on solid land, near home. He weighs the desires of Joanna and the bad omen of the crab, against the profession he inherited from his father before him and is unable to work out a decision. Once he does reach home port, Joanna is there with an ultimatum, and the young fisherman must finally choose whether or not to break with the past. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan Nowicki, Liliana Glabczynska, (more)
The Polish Year of the Quiet Sun is set in the years following World War II. In a small Polish town, a United Nations war-crimes investigation is taking place. While the courtroom battle rages on, American soldier Scott Wilson takes advantage of a few precious r-and-r opportunities. He falls in love with Maja Komorowska, a war widow. Despite obvious political and ideological differences, the romance flourishes--at least until it's time for the Americans to pack up and leave. More cerebral than carnal, Year of the Quiet Sun was originally release in Poland as Rok Spokojnego Slonca. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maja Komorowska, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1985
Suspenseful for most of its length, though a letdown at the end, this psychic thriller is about four very different people who are drawn to one particular place in the town of Sopot, a resort on the Baltic Sea. The time is 1933, and it so happens that 50 years earlier, a foul murder was committed here. Involved in that offense were four people who are dead-ringers for the four now gathering in Sopot. The modern versions of the four dead people are a police commissioner, a schoolteacher, a hunchback, and someone who just happens to be visiting from Berlin. As the police commissioner begins to gather evidence, he comes to the conclusion that this murder might just be a cyclical occurrence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wladyslaw Kowalski, Michal Bajor, (more)
- 1988
Taxi driver Janusz (Daniel Olbrychski) abandons his wife and children on Christmas Eve to help an old girlfriend search for her husband, whom she claims is missing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Olbrychski, Maria Pakulnis, (more)
- 1988
This Polish political melodrama examines the days leading up to the German invasion of Poland and centers upon two newlyweds. The husband is Uruguayan and comes from German-English parents. The woman is British. They have come to Poland to do some family business and end up visiting a good friend's country estate. There the woman is thrown from a horse and is critically wounded. Though her body heals, her mind is damaged. Her husband's cruelty toward her makes matters worse. The husband then learns that his factory is working with Germany as it plans a Polish invasion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Renée Soutendijk, (more)
Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts, and brings in accountant and financier Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to help run the factory. By staffing his plant with Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, Schindler has a dependable unpaid labor force. For Stern, a job in a war-related plant could mean survival for himself and the other Jews working for Schindler. However, in 1942, all of Krakow's Jews are assigned to the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp, overseen by Commandant Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), an embittered alcoholic who occasionally shoots prisoners from his balcony. Schindler arranges to continue using Polish Jews in his plant, but, as he sees what is happening to his employees, he begins to develop a conscience. He realizes that his factory (now refitted to manufacture ammunition) is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps. Soon Schindler demands more workers and starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. By the time Germany falls to the allies, Schindler has lost his entire fortune -- and saved 1,100 people from likely death. Schindler's List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture and a long-coveted Best Director for Spielberg, and it quickly gained praise as one of the finest American movies about the Holocaust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, (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)
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
- Starring:
- Jerzy Stuhr, Dominika Ostalowska, (more)
- 2001
In this intensely emotional drama, a family plans a reunion in a remote cabin in the mountains, just in time for Christmas. However, when the mother and father, their four adult children with spouses and offspring, and a handful of in-laws are thrown into close quarters for several days, everyone involved begins to fray at the edges emotionally. As it turns out, father has a severe drinking problem that he's been unable to keep under control, and he finally explodes into a tirade that proved deeply shocking for all parties concerned. Director Mona J. Hoel shot Nar Nettene Blir Lange in accordance with the rules of the Dogma 95 movement, which stipulates that films should be shot with handheld cameras using available light and existing locations, without the use of music or sound effects added after the fact. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gorild Mauseth, Svein Scharffenberg, (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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pawel Delag, Magdalena Mielcarz, (more)
- 2007
Polish actor Jerzy Nowak (best known in the West for his appearance in Schindler's List) turned 84 in the summer of 2007, and given his age he found himself wondering what should be done with his remains after he passed on. Nowak decided to donate his body to medical research, and the documentary Istienie (aka The Existence) follows him as he deals with the legal steps involved in turning his remains over to a medical college. While looking forward towards the reality of death, Nowak still tends to the minutia of his daily life, running the usual errands and making plans to reaffirm his marriage vows with his wife. As Nowak lives out the final chapter of his life, the staff at the medical school talk about the realities of their work and the emotional as well as scientific side of healing. The Existence received the Audience Award as Best Feature Length Documentary at the 2007 Krakow Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerzy Nowak, Marie Andruszkiewicz-Nowak, (more)
