Zygmunt Malanowicz Movies
- 2002
Based on the book by Stanislaw Rembek, Wyrok na Franciszka Klosa (The Condemnation of Franciszek Klos) was made for Polish TV by director Andrzej Wajda. During WWII, Klos (Miroslaw Baka) works as a policemen who helps the occupying Nazi soldiers in his village. Against the better judgment of his wife (Grazyna Blecka-Kolska) and his mother (Maja Komorowska), Klos degrades himself for the Nazis after he gets condemned to death for war crimes. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miroslaw Baka, Maja Komorowska, (more)
- 1985
Made with Polish television in mind, this routine story of the post-war traumas faced by a divided country looks at the troubled life and work of a commander who oversees the organization of the Baltic port of Pobojowisko in 1945. Poles from the east are pouring into the area, live mines need to be cleared from the waters of the port, native Germans are trying to move west, and to top everything off, the commander is suffering through typhoid fever. The only consolation is the nurse who gives him shots -- someone the commander decides to romance for reasons of his own. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janusz Rafal Nowicki, Halina Bednarz, (more)
- 1983
In this routine Polish drama about the end of World War II, a barber goes back to his village to visit his home -- he has not seen his wife in five years and in spite of sending her a few dozen letters, she has never responded. As he approaches the village, and after his arrival, he comes to find out that his wife never received his letters, thought he had died, has remarried, and is involved in the land reforms that her new husband has instigated. Everything becomes more complex for the barber and his "wife" when her new husband is hauled away by an armed group of men and the barber's loyalty to the land and his Catholic faith is brought to the test. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zygmunt Malanowicz
- 1981
Andras (Zygmunt Malanowicz), an older man employed as a furniture designer, gets a life-jarring shock when he returns from a trip and finds that some of the work he developed has been given over to a younger employee. This instigates a mid-life crisis over his own identity and his sense of security and self-worth, all exacerbated by a recent divorce and estrangement from his son. Recognizing that he needs help, the man goes for therapy and starts to face his problems. Therapy counteracts some of the damage of living, and the man starts to consider his son, his relationships with women, and his father in a different light. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zygmunt Malanowicz
- 1981
This film covers the five war-torn years between 1914 and 1919, unfortunately at the rate of about forty-five minutes per year, with ponderous historical detail, large crowd scenes, and hundreds of period costumes. As the legends of Polish history during this time share their moments with Lloyd George, Lenin, Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson, the war crunches to an inevitable close against a backdrop of parliamentary debates, battle scenes, and secret meetings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Chamiec
A controversial period in Polish history is the subject of this three-hour drama. The focus of attention is General Jozef Pilsudski (Ryszard Filipski), who took over the Polish army after his release from a German prison and then proceeded to take over Poland in 1918. Poland had been divided between Germany, Austria, and Russia, but that humiliation ended in 1919. Pilsudski ruled over a united Poland for a total of four years, until a constitutional government was elected. Unfortunately, the government was not very strong, and in 1926 the former General came back in a coup d'etat to rule once more, until his death in 1935. The changes before, during, and after this last period of rule are handled throughout the three-hour running time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryszard Filipski
- 1980
This haunting, symbolic drama is set in a small Polish town in 1918. An officer in the Austrian army has come to stay in a hotel owned by a Jew. The officer was born in Poland, he is the only guest in the hotel, and the area itself would one day be the site where many Polish Jews and other prisoners were killed by the Nazis. Although he knows he cannot survive (he has tuberculosis), the officer still goes out hunting for a prisoner in the forest because he wants to know what it is like to kill someone. Parallels to the future German occupation of Poland are explored in greater depth when another lieutenant arrives at the hotel and engages the officer in conversation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Ewa Dalkowska, (more)
- 1976
Sponsored by both the Polish and the Soviet states, the Polish military officer in this movie was a notable leader in an uprising against the ruling and aristocratic classes of both of those countries. The officer died fighting for the Paris Commune in 1871. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zigmunt Malyanovich, Zygmunt Malanowicz, (more)
- 1971
This Polish film examines the lives of two brothers living on a Czech farm. One of them is a curious fellow, who moons about, carving primitive wooden statues and placing them in his collection in the barn. The other brother means to become a successful farmer and studies agricultural engineering in college. On the day the hard-working brother marries the girl next door, the strange brother gleefully burns his statue collection. Then, after unclothing (but otherwise not molesting) his new sister-in-law, he heads off into the swamp to search for a special log for a new woodcarving. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Based on the writings of Tadeusz Borowski, a child survivor of Auschwitz who committed suicide at 29, this is the story of two concentration camp survivors. A sensitive young poet is approached by a pretty Jewish girl with a plan to move to the West. Fueled by hatred over his experience in prison, he is reluctant to go and seeks revenge on his former captors. His hatred of the Germans prevents him from realizing the girl has fallen in love with him. The woman is accidentally shot by an American soldier, causing the poet to cry for the first time in years. He must reckon with his past and is finally awakened to the feelings that allowed his initial creativity that was suppressed by his Nazi captors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Olbrychski, Stanislawa Celinska, (more)
- 1969
Nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, this comedy from Polish director Andrzej Wajda stars Zygmunt Malanowicz as Wlodek, a young man stuck in a dead-end job at the local library who lives with his harridan wife and critical in-laws in a small apartment. When Wlodek draws the interest of a library patron, the beautiful young woman encourages him to strive for better things in his life and professional career. Together, the two take off for a three-day affair, but surprises could await Wlodek upon his return home. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malgorzata Braunek, Zygmunt Malanowicz, (more)
- 1966
This Polish drama chronicles the rebelliousness of the country's youth as it presents episodes from a young man's cross-country journey. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan Nowicki, Joanna Szczerbic, (more)
Prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp risk their lives by taking in a young Jewish boy rescued from a Polish ghetto. The camp commander hears about the boy and tightens up on the already cruelly treated prisoners. They whisk the boy away from being discovered, always staying one step ahead of the Nazi guards and the livid commandant. The boy is eventually discovered and both he and the prisoners now face certain death. Only the Allied invasion and subsequent tank patrols can save the prisoners and their young friend from doom. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Delmare, Erwin Geschonneck, (more)
Noz w Wodzie was not only Polanski's first feature-length film, but it also marked the first screen appearance of Polish actor Zygmunt Malanowicz who played a young student. In fact, the only experienced thespian in the featured trio is Leon Niemczyk as Andrzej, the self-important, somewhat arrogant husband of Kataryna. Andrzej and Kataryna pick up the student as he is hitchhiking and invite him to join them on their boat for an outing. As the threesome head out to open water, the husband and the student start a kind of jealous interaction that keeps Kataryna mildly amused. What began as a macho sparring ends up in a fight that has the student falling overboard and the husband swimming to shore for help. But appearances are deceiving, as the husband will soon discover. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, (more)
