Grazyna Szapolowska Movies

Legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda adapts a nationally treasured epic poem to the silver screen. For 400 years, Lithuania and Poland were linked, until the country was partitioned in 1795 by aggressive nations at its borders -- Russia, Prussia, and the Austrian empire. At that point, the formerly huge nation simply ceased to exist. Yet one hope remained for the patriotic Poles yearning for autonomy -- France. Napoleon promised to restore the Polish homeland if they, in turn, helped him defeat Russia. Thousands of Poles were part of the French force that reached the gates of Moscow before being forced into a long and bloody retreat. The film itself centers on two families who live in the Russian-controlled part of Poland: the Horeszkos, who ardently favor independence, and the Soplicas, who support Russia. In 1792, the last household lord of the Horeszkos was killed by Jacek Soplica; as a result, the latter was rewarded with the former's castle by the Russian colonizers. Twenty years later, the region is rife with rumors of Napoleon's imminent invasion. A destitute Count (Marek Kondrat) and heir to the Horeszko family estate almost throws his lot in with the richer and more powerful Soplica clan before he stumbles upon Gervais (Daniel Olbrychski), who reminds him of the treacherous murder of his ancestor. Meanwhile, Tadeusz (Michal Zebrowski), the rakish nephew of Judge Soplica (Andrzej Seweryn), who symbolizes all that is good and right about Poland, is confronted with a choice upon returning from university. He can either give his heart to the beautiful, pure, 14-year-old Sosia (Alicja Bachleda-Curus), a distant cousin of the Horeszkos who is living with the Soplicas, or he can opt instead for the worldly, sophisticated, St. Petersburg-educated Telimena (Grazyna Szapolowska), who is related to both clans. This film, which in many ways sums up Wajda's long and illustrious career, was a massive success in its native Poland. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Antonio (Enrico Salimbeni) may not have been the most energetic waiter in the most popular restaurant in this unfashionable Adriatic tourist town, but that is no reason for his boss not to pay him. When he takes the wages that he is owed out of the till, not only does the owner throw him out, but he has him beaten up, to boot. Enzo (Mario Adorf), the owner of a restaurant so far off the beaten track it is widely known as Abissinia rather than being called by its true name, takes him in. The leisurely pace of everything that is done at the restaurant leaves Antonio with plenty of time to put together the story of its owner and the love of his life, and how he, too, fell from culinary glory to his present obscurity. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This unusual film looks at the issue of rape from the male point of view, in particular one man's nightmare of being unfairly accused of the crime and having no recourse against the accusations of a persuasive "victim." In this drama, a student finds herself locked in a museum after closing time with a man who has arranged for that to happen. He indicates his interest in having sexual relations with her, and she appears willing each of the times they have sex -- even to the point of complaining when he leaves prematurely. Afterwards, he is surprised to be hauled into court on a charge of "rape without force" and convicted. However, his is not the nightmare vision being considered -- the prosecutor who has won his case begins having nightmares, especially after his girlfriend takes the side of the man he prosecuted. Despite some oddities in the acting, this film won a Silver Bear at the 1991 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Nineteen-year-old Tomek (Olaf Lubaszenko) spies on the older, promiscuous Magda (Grazyna Szapolowska), who then seduces him. This episode was released in an expanded version as A Short Film About Love. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A pretty widow and her teenage daughter Milka run the farm after their husband and father has died. Their neighbor Krystian occasionally stops by to help in the fields. His presence always makes the young widow more cheerful, but Milka tries to seduce the man at every available chance. Krystian soon becomes the lover to both mother and daughter but leaves after Milka becomes pregnant. After the grief-stricken mother goes insane, Milka marries a homely organist who once dated her mother. Tragedy befalls the psychologically tortured mother as a result of the lurid love triangle. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A noble family struggles to survive the political upheaval and social change of the early 20th century in this grim drama based on a true story. Prince Hans von Teuss (Jan Nowicki) divorces his wife when he discovers she has been the lover of Emperor Wilhelm II. He becomes wheelchair bound when he suffers from paralysis. The bad luck for the Prince continues when he discovers his eldest son Franzel is a Nazi sympathizer. As if things couldn't get worse, the Prince catches his young bride Marisca making love to his youngest son Bolko. The Prince divorces Marisca and forces Bolko to marry her in a humiliating public wedding. Bolko is arrested in 1935 and is subjected to cruel medical experimentation before his father witnesses his agonizing death. The middle son Conrad (Jan Englert) is the only one to survive World War II, and he transforms the family palace into a tourist trap. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Suspenseful for most of its length, though a letdown at the end, this psychic thriller is about four very different people who are drawn to one particular place in the town of Sopot, a resort on the Baltic Sea. The time is 1933, and it so happens that 50 years earlier, a foul murder was committed here. Involved in that offense were four people who are dead-ringers for the four now gathering in Sopot. The modern versions of the four dead people are a police commissioner, a schoolteacher, a hunchback, and someone who just happens to be visiting from Berlin. As the police commissioner begins to gather evidence, he comes to the conclusion that this murder might just be a cyclical occurrence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The late, celebrated Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski) has created a downbeat but emotionally harrowing, magic realist tale in this film about a fictional couple whose lives are taken over by events in Poland in the turbulent, early 1980s. Antoni Zyro (Jerzy Radziwilowicz), a Polish attorney, dies in an automobile accident. For the next several weeks, his spirit watches what happens to his wife Ula (Grazyna Szapolowska) and his cause, and directs her course of action. Ula decides that her love for her dead husband can only be expressed by hiring an attorney to defend Antoni's clients - one of the most prominent is a hero of the Gdansk strikes, accused of creating the Polish solidarity movement and fighting for the cause of democratic labor. As the lawyer defends the worker who fights for his right to organize a union, Ula is still struggling with the loss of her husband -- and losing her battle to go on. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Another Way is another above-average study of a human being in conflict with the status quo from the Hungarian director of The House Under the Rocks (1958) and Love (1971). Our first view of the character played by Jadwiga Jankowski Cieslak is a closeup of her corpse. In flashback, we learn that Cieslak had been a female journalist in the strife-torn Hungary of 1958. The film explores her efforts to report facts in the face of governmental fallacy, as well as her long homosexual affair with Grazyna Szapolowska, another journalist. Withheld from Hungarian release for several years, Another Way proved to be a film-festival success internationally. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the 1930s, a peasant with a wife and son has to struggle hard to make the barest living. Because of his son's inattention, the family's only cow eats itself sick in a field of clover, and dies. The son, terrified of his father's wrath, remains in the field during a thunderstorm and is killed by lightening. On the same day, the peasant's wife, who was sick, also dies. Distraught, the poor man seeks solace in drink but is brought back to life by another woman, whom he marries and raises a new family with, until he is taken away by the demands of the Second World War. On his return, nothing is left: not wife, nor children, nor farm. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide