Krystyna Janda 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 filmmaker Juliusz Machulski helms the relentless and merciless satirical comedy Superprodukcja. The film concerns a mobster desperate to turn his ditzy, flighty girlfriend into a box-office star. He reels in a perfectionist film critic to author the script, but feels resolutely unhappy with the treatment's artiistic pretensions, and thus forces the scenarist to rework the material as a buttered popcorn picture. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A young man faces a series of complicated choices about love, family, and politics in this epic drama based on the acclaimed novel by Stefan Zeromski, one of Poland's most heralded authors. Cezary Baryka (Mateusz Damiecki) is a young man coming of age in Baku in 1914. Baryka wants to study engineering and has fallen in love for the first time, but as he tries to balance his romantic longings and his intellectual pursuits, the Russian Revolution explodes, and soon the girl Baryka loves has become a casualty of the fighting, as well as his mother and several of his friends. Shattered, Baryka follows his father's advice and flees to Poland, where he becomes involved with the Bolsheviks; while fighting with their forces, he saves the live of a close friend, who invites him to live off his family's estate after the war. Baryka takes his friend up on the offer, but when Baryka falls in love, he discovers he has a rival for her affections, which threatens to once again turn his life upside down. A major box-office success in Poland, Przedwiosnie was released in two forms -- a 138-minute cut that was distributed to theaters and a five-hour miniseries for television broadcast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the midst of WW I, a doctor and a lawyer team up to turn a ramshackle old mountain chateau into a sanatorium/health spa that caters to the afflicted from most every stratum of European society, most of whom show up with false hope in their hearts and plenty of equally false identities. Even the proprietors have a few deceptions, chief among them is the part of the resort where they provide shelter for dying and horribly maimed soldiers. Still the atmosphere of this high-class convalescent home is that of great gentility that thinly disguises the seaminess of the guests' secret activities. Though much of the film is a quirky comedy, tragedy comes creeping in when people begin dying of unnatural causes, and not even the pure mountain air can save the owners and the residents. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Tomek (Arthur Zmijewski) is one of those rare people who follow their best instincts and get away with it. In this story, Tomek has made the acquaintance of Julia (Krystyna Janda), a very depressed, neurotic older woman. He invites her to stay with his devoutly Catholic mother (Maja Komorowska) and himself, and the two of them then try to deal with her hysteria and neediness. When it becomes clear that she needs treatment for her condition, Tomek goes to West Germany and, refusing the easy money his father (who is living there) offers him, takes a job in order to make enough money. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

As Dorota's (Krystyna Janda) husband lies dying, she must decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy by another man. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two lovers who meet again six years after World War II suffer at the hands of Stalinist oppression in this thrilling political drama. Anna (Krysyna Janda) hides the fugitive Marcel (Jerzy Radziwilowicz) when he receives a death sentence for his role in the Home Army. For five years, Anna hides him from the authorities, and her invalid mother is unaware of his presence for years. She summons a doctor when Marcel suffers from pneumonia, and she later has his child out of wedlock. The changing political climate allows Marcel to emerge from the underground, but he is arrested once again. He is freed at his rehabilitation trial when the court admits to "previous mistakes." ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Extensive dialogue and the tight focus of a single apartment setting marks this romantic and politically symbolic drama about Malgortzata, a Polish photographer (Krystyna Janda) and her married French lover Paul (Sami Frey). The two rendezvous in West Berlin to spend some time together before Malgortzata has to go back to Warsaw and Paul returns to his wife and daughter. Malgortzata is excited about her recent trip to Africa and shows Paul her photos; Paul is upset because she says there is no way she will move to Paris, Warsaw is the only place she wants to be. The two talk, disagree, argue, make-up, and talk again -- but will all this discussion ever resolve a matter of the heart and not the mind? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A street-hardened cop softens up after he gets entangled with an 18-year-old but very tough girl who hangs out with other juvenile delinquents in this violent German actioner. Their strange relationship begins when the cop meets her while trying to arrest a group of her friends. During the scuffle, she manages to steal the cop's gun and uses it to pay off a debt. After several chases and near seductions, the cop and the girl hook up, but then the cop finds himself with a difficult decision. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This film of a glitzy showbiz world by director Peter Keglevic in his first feature-length effort recounts the saga of a married torch singer whose numerous lovers are meant to steady her nerves and a saxophone player who loves her but cannot get his own act together. Singing and cinematography are pluses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Originally titled Przesluchanie, the Polish The Interrogation is rough sledding for anyone looking for an "easy" film about political oppression. Cabaret entertainer Krystyna Jadna has a habit of dallying sexually with high-ranking military officers. As a result, she is imprisoned and subject to a vicious interrogation by the secret police, who are convinced that Jadna's brief affair with an army major has fomented an anti-government movement. For 158 grueling minutes, we are shown the lengths to which Jadna's questioners will go to extract their notion of the truth-and the lengths to which the woman will go to cling on to her remaining shreds of dignity. Filmed in 1982, The Interrogation was almost immediately banned in Poland. It was not given an international release until 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, Eva is on her yacht celebrating her forthcoming attempt to sail around the world. The country is Poland, and the time is just prior to the military crackdown on the labor/political movement Solidarity in that country the early 1980s. Her two co-celebrants are her ex-husband and her new business partner. After martial law is declared, she can still go on her journey, though there is some question about whether she will. In the meantime, her business partner suffers financial reverses, and her husband loses his job after refusing to sign a loyalty oath. This politically troubling tale was kept out of circulation in Poland from 1982, when it was made, until late in 1989. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi