Czeslaw Wollejko Movies

In 1982, legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda fled his homeland and relocated in France to direct this powerful story about the ethical boundaries of power and leadership, which had many parallels to Poland's volatile political situation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Danton (Gérard Depardieu) and Robespierre (Wojciech Pszoniak) were close friends and fought together in the French Revolution, but by 1793 Robespierre was France's ruler, determined to wipe out opposition with a series of mass executions that became known as the Reign of Terror. Danton, well known as a spokesman of the people, had been living in relative solitude in the French countryside, but he returned to Paris to challenge Robespierre's violent rule and call for the people to demand their rights. Robespierre, however, could not accept such a challenge, even from a friend and colleague, and he blocked out a plan for the capture and execution of Danton and his allies. Wajda remained in France until 1989, when the collapse of Communist rule made it possible for him to return to his homeland. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Hanka Ordonowna (Dorota Sialinska) was a famous cabaret singer in Poland in the 1930s, and this film is a dramatized rendering of her adult life. Her husband was an officer in the Polish army, serving in the North African campaigns with the Allied troops. Hanka herself was handling a career that went from being a chorus girl to singing to appearing in movies. Her rise from poverty to stardom was not without its own amount of suffering, as she fought consumption at one point, and the occupying Nazis at another. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This classical romantic melodrama, based on the novel by Helena Miniszkowna, is retold without any hint of irreverence, even though it had been a favorite target of satires for generations. Waldemar (Leszek Teleszynski) is a Polish aristocrat who lives in a magnificent palace. Stefcia (Elizbieta Starostecka), the woman he falls in love with, is extremely beautiful, but is just a high-school teacher. The town in which they both live is scandalized, and will not permit the two of them to remain together. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

As directed by Aleksander Ford in 1952, this Polish-language period drama chronicles the life, times and accomplishments of revered Warsaw-born Romantic composer Frederic Chopin, here played by Czeslaw Wollejko (Danton). The feature focuses exclusively on the youth of Chopin (who died at age 39), spanning his 15th year (c. 1825) through his 21st year (c. 1831); it also depicts Chopin as both prodigiously gifted and one filled with a tremendous spirit of Polish nationalism. Ford concludes with the onset of the illness that eventually killed Ford, set against the backdrop of the famous November Uprising in 1830. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi