Jerzy Buchwald Movies

Feliks Falk's drama Komornik (The Debt Collector) stars Andrzej Chyra as a debt collector who works his job with an unreasonable conviction. He must steel himself against many of the tragic people he encounters on a daily basis. However one day he is forced to pay a visit to an ex-girlfriend, a meeting which blasts through his emotional defenses. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Illuminacja follows the education of a young man from his entry into college to his final achievement of a doctorate. Paralleling his outer education, his inner education about life, family, sexuality and spiritual values is revealed. By the time he achieves his doctorate, he has been told that he has a life-shortening heart disease. However, because of his two-fold education, he is fulfilled in what he has done and is not much distressed. This Polish film, by the notable director Krzysztof Zanussi, won many awards at Italian film festivals. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Krzysztof Zanussi's Za Sciana (Behind the Wall), a short feature made for Polish television, concerns the unlikely romance between Jan, an established professor of biochemistry, and Anna, an emotionally unstable young woman who applies for a job under his aegis. Both are sensitive to the idea of being vulnerable in a relationship, and although they sense mutual attraction and interest, the partners ultimately withdraw from each other out of fear. Soon after, Anna makes an unsuccessful suicide attempt, but passing through the act unscathed imparts to her a level of self-assurance and confidence that she lacked prior to it. The roles in the relationship are suddenly reversed, with Jan evincing neurosis and need, and Anna self-sufficient. Za Sciana took the Grand Prix and won the Best Actress prize for Maja Komorowska at the 1971 San Remo Film Festival. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi