Jan Englert Movies

Polish heavyweight director Andrzej Wajda helms this unusual, way-offbeat project, whose complicated backstory explains the complex structure on hand. Ostensibly the tale of a middle-aged woman who grows obsessed with a much younger man in the years following World War II, while facing her own impending death at the same time, the film reached mid-production when lead actress Krystyna Janda lost her beloved husband to a terminal illness and began to work through the grief. Hit by creative inspiration, Wajda decided to modify the film by superimposing Janda's reading of a deeply intimate, confessional monologue onto the filmed material, thus commenting pointedly on the original work. The tale opens in a contemporary hotel room, shot with large, flat patches of light and shadow stylistically recalling Edward Hopper. Janda stands in the room, and as she walks around, speaks openly and passionately of cinematographer husband Edward Klosinski -- his diagnosis, his physiological decline, and ultimately his death. The narrative then cuts to the period section, with uncanny parallels to Janda's off-set experiences. Here, the actress stars as Marta, a European woman semi-happily married to a local physician (Jan Englert). He learns that she has contracted lung cancer, but deliberately resists informing her of her dire impending fate -- because she's already emotionally fragile given the death of their young sons during the war. Then, one day, Marta is walking with a friend when she catches a glimpse of a handsome, strapping 20-year-old man named Boguslaw (Pawel Szajda) and feels instantly drawn to his youth and sexuality. She then beckons him into a mentor-protégé relationship, which inevitably leads to an affair. Marta expresses her desire to collect rushes for the upcoming Pentecost feast, an event designed to celebrate life, and the passage of spring into summer -- but she doesn't realize that the freshness of life that beckoned her when she first spotted Boguslaw will ultimately be her undoing. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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, Rovi

In Central Europe during the 1980's an important Hungarian intellectual inexplicably committed suicide. His was only one of many enigmatic deaths and disappearances at that time. His true story provides the basis for this film. The story begins during 1988 when Hungary was still a Communist state. Tibor was a chemical researcher who discovered how to use poisonous gases in chemical weapons. The Russians attempted to get him to give details about the research, but he refused. The KGB arrest him and then drown him in a bathtub. His body is subsequently discovered in the shallows of Lake Balaton. The Hungarian police claim it was suicide, but his son Peter is not convinced. He begins to unravel the mystery and meets with tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Zbigniew Zapassiewiewicz stars in The Baritone (Baryton) The world-renowned title character magnanimously promises to honor his home town with a concert. He arrives with his entourage, including his faithless wife and backstabbing manager. As he prepares to perform, all those around him formulate their own plans to exploit their host's fame and fortune. And then, as the appointed hour approaches, the Baritone loses his voice. It's amazing how quickly leeches scurry away when their blood source dries up. Set in the early 1930s, The Baritone has as much to say about the manners and mores of Polish life of that era as it does about its fictional protagonist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One day a man just walks away from his wife and family, his job, and everything that defines him and goes to spend his days in the railway terminal. A psychiatrist and his own son cannot convince him to leave the terminal, as each day he watches passengers come and go who are caught in the same nonthinking routines, or who wander through life not able to identify with the world around them. Before long, his life of observation and rebellion in the terminal - a fitting, symbolic name - is brought to a head when camera crews arrive to film his odd presence. A television reporter looking for the story that will save his floundering career thinks he has found it in this strange eccentric who used to be a normal father and husband. The hero feels he must escape the invasion of his private "public" life, and ends up on the roof of the terminal - where he sees the sunlight in the "smaller sky." From there, he must decide what to do to end this unexpected and unwanted pursuit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This historical drama by Wojciech Solarz is set in the 17th century. King Jan III Sobieski's father-in-law has a bad habit of sneaking out of the palace to play cards and enjoy his cups of wine. Since Vienna is not politically secure, this habit is dangerous to the realm in case of a kidnapping. The queen's father would be a powerful pawn to hold ransom, and three foreign governments are keeping a lookout for him. Fortunately, a skillful knight, the Chevalier de Charentes (Jan Englert) is at hand to protect the card-playing, wine-drinking royal from weakening Austria's position on the political chessboard. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This film is an adaptation of Stefan Zeromski's story of a poor youth who becomes an physician with the help of a rich woman, but becomes identified with the working classes. This is presented in Polish with English subtitles. ~ Rovi

This grim drama, in Polish, chronicles the trials and slow deterioration in the life of a proud professor who is subjected to the indignities of modern medical care in a hospital. At first just brought in for a few tests, he discovers that his kidneys are failing and that he will have to remain in the hospital until transplant organs become available. In the beginning he is a man at the top of his form, called away for an unavoidable interruption. By the end, with his career in shambles and his pride ruptured by countless indignities, he loses control just as an ambulance containing the kidney he needs is arriving. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This is the second and more realistic of two films made by Kazimierz Kutz and set in the Silesian coal mines -- the other being Salt of the Earth. Poland was just reforming itself as an independent nation in the 1920s. At the same time, Polish Germans ran the coal mines in Silesia. When the owners made plans to close the coal mines, the miners rose up in revolt, occupying the mines to keep them from being flooded. Their uprising led to Silesia becoming part of the new Poland. This Polish-language film tells the story of the uprising -- which is analogous to the recently re-occupied Poland of the early '70s. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi