Cezary Pazura Movies
One question that arose when Poland changed from its communist form of government to a more open model was what to do with its thousands of secret policemen. Clearly, some of them couldn't be integrated into the regular police force, and some of them could. In this police thriller, Olo (Marek Kondrat) is a former secret policeman who has joined an illegal drug cartel, and he soon comes into conflict with one of the men newly integrated into the regular police force. Despite his being a "regular" policeman, Franz (Boguslaw Linda) refuses to play by the book, and uses many of his old techniques and contacts to track down whoever is killing so many of his new colleagues. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boguslaw Linda, Cezary Pazura, (more)
- 1993
World War II buffs may know of the rebellion against the Nazi occupiers of Poland in 1944, but the story may be less familiar elsewhere. It is called "The Warsaw Uprising." In addition, though the Polish communist authorities allowed certain films to be made about that brave (but futile) effort, the participation of non-communists was very much downplayed. Director Andrzej Wajda made several films dealing with this subject in those years, but was forced to make the facts fit the political wishes of the government. Finally, in 1992, he was able to take the novel by Aleksander Scibor-Rylski and make the movie he really wanted to make. In this story, Marcin (Rafal Krolikowski) is a member of the Home Army, a non-communist army of resistance. In alliance with every conceivable anti-Nazi faction, the group struggles for a little over two months to oust the German army from Poland, but in the end is unable to accomplish this and are forced to go on the run. Perhaps they would have been able to keep the fight going longer if there hadn't been so many internal rivalries among the resistance fighters. Marcin tries to steer a moderate course between the royalist right-wingers and the communist factions, but is unable to accomplish anything before the Russians come. In a parallel story, as he is just going off to participate the uprising, Marcin has a love-interest (Agnieska Wagner) who gives him a ring engraved with the symbol of a free Poland (the crowned eagle), but loses track of her in the chaos of the rebellion and its aftermath. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cezary Pazura, Piotr Bajor, (more)
- 1993
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
- 1994
This Polish satire makes fun of Andrzej Wajda's films Man of Marble and Man of Iron while also taking sharp pokes at Polish post-Solidarity government reforms. Everyone gets it in this film, the Polish government, political activists, and even the church. It is set in 1982 Warsaw where Anna, a spirited film school graduate is trying to make a film about censorship. Unfortunately she finds herself censored by the police who arrest her on beefed-up charges. The films main protagonist, Marek is also arrested. Unlike other film heroes, Marek has the fortitude of lime Jello. Anna is exiled to France until 1989. When she returns she is recruited to make a documentary for Polish TV. She begins looking to see what happened to poor Marek. She interviews many oily officials. Marek's role in it all is shown in flashback. He is seen meeting secretly with people, going to prison, and becoming romantically involved with Marie, another activist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agata Kulesza, Slawomir Pacek, (more)
- 1996
This gentle and moving German romance centers on the star-crossed affair between a lonely, daydreamy factory worker from East Berlin and a Polish smuggler. Ramona was absently riding the bus one day when Andrzej, a total strange sits beside her and gives her a big kiss right on the lips. Before that fateful encounter, Ramona's life revolved around working in a lipstick factory by day and spying upon her neighbors by night. Though Andrzej only kissed her to shake off some pursuing cops, electricity passed between them. Shortly thereafter, he and Ramona begin an affair that blossoms into a great romance, at least for Ramona who believes that Andrzej really wants to commit to her. It is only after she gets pregnant that the sad truth comes out, a truth that leads first to tragedy and then renewal for Ramona. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Polish action stars Olaf Lubaszenko, Jan Englert, and Cezary Pazura headline this tense tale of a devastating computer virus that threatens to plunge all of Warsaw into complete chaos. The computer networks of a major bank and a high profile hospital have been compromised, and now in order to defeat the virus authorities have enlisted the aid of a talented young hacker named Michal. Should Michal fail in his daring cyber-mission, the institutions he's attempting to protect are sure to be completely crippled by the virus. Now Michal has noticed something familiar in the code - could it be that his scheming brother Stefan is the cyber-terrorist responsible for this beautifully complex bug? In order to find out for sure, Michel will have to forget about his crush on a pretty bank manager for the time being and use all his skills to crack a code that seems to have no discernable flaws. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olaf Lubaszenko, Jan Englert, (more)
- 1996
Andrzej Wajda, the most acclaimed Polish filmmaker of the post-WWII era, returned from exile to make films again in Poland in the 1990s, including this saga based on the novel by Jerzy Andrzjewski. The English translation is Holy Week, and the film is set during the week before Easter in WWII Poland. Irena Lilien (Beata Fudalej), a young Jewish woman, escapes from the Warsaw ghetto where the Nazis are persecuting Jews and sending them off to extermination. She seeks out her former lover, Jan Malecki (Wojciech Malajkat). Jan and his wife Anna (Magdalena Warzecha), a Catholic who hates the Germans, agree to shelter Irena from the authorities, though in so doing, they are risking their own lives. Jan's younger brother leaves the house and joins the Resistance. Irena chafes at her virtual house arrest and soon attracts the attention of neighbors and a local black-market businesswoman, whose husband tries to rape Irena. Eventually, the leaders of the neighborhood call for Irena to be turned over to the Nazis. The situation boils over, pitting neighbor against neighbor and illustrating how the Nazis drove rifts in the Polish community. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
A hard-boiled bodyguard and his street-smart charge find their professional bond turning intensely personal as they take to the road to fight for their lives in this slick thriller that follows in the tradition of La Femme Nikita. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boguslaw Linda, Agnieszka Wlodarczyk, (more)
- 1997
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
- Starring:
- Boguslaw Linda, Zbigniew Zamachowski, (more)
The horrors of the Jewish Holocaust are revisited in this drama by Czech director Matej Minac. The film opens with the upwardly mobile Silberstein clan led by Jakub (Josef Abrham), as he buys a villa in the countryside just before Hitler overruns the country. His blind faith in family unity ironically keeps a number of his relatives in the country to be victimized by the Nazis. Meanwhile, British humanitarian Nicholas Winton (Rupert Graves) tries to rescue hundreds of Czech children and get them out of the country. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josef Abrhám, Jiri Bartoska, (more)
- 2000
Actor-turned-director Olaf Lubaszenko takes the helm for this outlandish crime comedy concerning a young violinist who incurs the wrath of the Polish mafia. Kuba (Maciej Stuhr) is a talented musician and a loyal pal to bumbling best-friend Oscar. When Kuba grasps the true depth of his single pal's loneliness, he determines to find Oscar a suitable companion. Though an attractive escort proves a perfect match the pair fails to raise enough money to pay the woman and the mob sets out to collect their fee by force if necessary. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In this Polish comedy, Nikodem inadvertently humiliates the much-hated vice prime minister, propelling his once hum-drum life as a funeral eulogist to the heights of political fame. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cezary Pazura, Anna Przybylska, (more)
The handsome heir to a successful Polish brewery becomes corrupted by a decadent princess and her psychotic, sexually salacious, homosexual hunchback jester in Body Without Soul director Wiktor Grodecki's daring adaptation of Stanislaw Igncay Witkiewicz's controversial, 1930s-era novel detailing the ultimate downfall of western civilization. China has set into motion a relentless invasion of Eastern Europe, and as the chiseled idealistic heir ponders the implications of such an act of warfare, the beautiful princess Irina seizes the opportunity to lead him into a life of sexual deviance while setting her sights on his vast fortune. The princess isn't the only one that the confused eighteen-year-old heir has to worry about though, and as the mad monk jester makes a play for his purity, it seems that there is no turning back from a world where war and sex have become permanent partners. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cezary Pazura, Michal Lewandowski, (more)
