Lech Majewski Movies
- 2007
A man desperately tries to escape the memories of a painful childhood in this experimental feature from Polish artist and filmmaker Lech Majewski. A young poet (Patryk Czajka) is exiled to a mental hospital and finds himself haunted by scenes from his life as a boy, living with a father (Grzegorz Przybyl) who meted out frequent violence and a mother (Joanna Litwin) who did nothing to stop the pain. The poet's tortured recollections are interspersed by surreal, silent tableaux that juxtapose the terrible and the ordinary as accompanied by nature sounds and found noises. Glass Lips was originally conceived and presented as a series of 33 short video pieces, shown as part of a gallery installation Majewski titled "Blood of a Poet," though the material was later edited into a feature film for theatrical screenings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patryk Czajka, Joanna Litwin, (more)
Idiosyncratic Polish director Lech Majewski helmed this feature, which he adapted from his own novel Metaphysics. It concerns the romance that blossoms between an engineer named Chris (Chris Nightingale) and an art history expert named Claudine (Claudine Spiteri), who meet up and instantly fall into impassioned lust for one another. Before long, however, tragedy strikes in the form of a terminal illness that hits Claudine. She chooses to respond by spending her final days with Chris in Venice, against the backdrop of buildings and murals created by her favorite artist, Hieronymus Bosch. In that venue, Claudine acts as Chris's romantic, erotic and emotional guide, leading him down a pathway of intense seduction and theretofore unattained insights into himself and the nature of love. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudine Spiteri, Chris Nightingale, (more)
- 2001
Polish director Lech Majewski followed up his 1999 film Wojaczek with this dark fantasy comedy based on true events that took place in a Selisian town beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1950s. As World War II looms, the leader of an occultist commune in a small Polish mining town makes three prophecies before dying, the third prophecy predicting the demise of the human race. Over the years, the members of the commune watch with great anxiety as the the first two prophecies appear to come true. Believing that the Apocalypse is fast approaching, they select a virgin boy from the commune to sacrifice himself and save the world from certain destruction. Cinematographer Adam Sikora won the Silver Frog for Angelus at Poland's 2001 Camerimage film festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan Siodlaczek, Pawel Steinert, (more)
- 1999
Lech Majewski, a poet and screenwriter for Basquiat (1996), directs this stylized biopic of Polish rebel Rafal Wojaczek, who became the stuff of folklore after his spectacular 1971 suicide. Drunk and depressed, Wojaczek walks through windows, jumps from two story buildings, and gets into frequent fights. Though he has frequent sexual dalliances with the nursing staff during his recurrent trips to the hospital, his true love remains his poetry. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominika Ostalowska
- 1998
Polish director Lech Majewski brings his self-described "autobiographical opera" to the screen. Involved in every aspect of the original stage version's genesis (including co-composing the music), Majewski's story unfolds in a single apartment over the course of four seasons -- beginning with Spring. As the film begins, a small family -- mother, father and son -- sit down for the evening meal and then prepare to sleep. Just before bedtime, the boy hangs a painting of a cross-bound Christ on his wall. Soon afterward, blood slowly drips down the wall. Summer brings an abundance of blooming flowers inside the flat, and from here things take on a magical, slightly surreal air in which the man-made environment becomes increasingly naturalistic. Eventually, a herd of deer move in. Pokoj Saren was screened at the 1998 Montreal Festival of New Cinema & New Media. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rafal Olbrychski, Elzbieta Mazur, (more)
Andy Warhol was a phenomenon who warrants a lot of explaining: a completely colorless mega-star celebrity, and a kind of LaBrea Tarpit for a vivid and talented collection of oddballs in the New York scene. He fostered their continued degeneration into weird lifestyles and heavy drug use; and at the same time acted as their mentor, agent, and sponsor. One artist who came to be part of Warhol's "scene" was Jean Michel Basquiat, an antisocial street-bum who went from writing graffiti on alley walls to being the toast of New York City's art world. This film biography chronicles the progression of Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) and his progression from living in cardboard boxes to penthouses, his romances, his drug use, and his death in 1988 at age 27. Along the way, he never stopped detesting the rich, including art agent Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper), and he never lost his naivete. Warhol (David Bowie) picks up some of the pieces as Basquiat lurches through the art scene. Cameo appearances by Tatum O'Neal and Courtney Love add spice to this interesting film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, (more)
As directed by Polish film stalwart Lech Majewski in English, with a Hollywood cast including Viggo Mortensen (A Walk on the Moon) and Jack Kehoe (Melvin & Howard), the 1993 allegory The Gospel According to Harry unfolds at some indeterminate point in the future - when much of the Pacific Ocean is now a sandy, scorched and barren wasteland. Mortensen and Jennifer Rubin are Wes and Karen, a young couple trapped in the most unhealthy of relationships and bound by a co-dependency to one another. With only a bleak future in sight, the two go through empty and meaningless days searching for happiness with scarcely an iota of success. Then into the situation walks Harry, a tax collector who looks on as a distant observer but seems powerless to intervene on any level. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viggo Mortensen, Jennifer Rubin, (more)
- 1988
In 1981, Ronald Biggs was kidnapped by agents from Scotland Yard from his Brazilian hideout for his participation in the 1964 British train robbery. This feature was written by Biggs and director Lech Majewski as a fictionalized account of the authorities trying to bring the colorful crook to justice. Paul Freeman plays Biggs, infamous for his participation in the $5 million heist dubbed "The Great Train Robbery". Jack McFarland (Steven Berkoff) is the Scotland Yard agent obsessed with apprehending Biggs and placing him on board a British navy ship bound for England. Nudity abounds in the final carnival scene as Biggs stays one step ahead of his captors. Colorful scenes of Rio are the highlight of this feature hampered by a thin script. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Berkoff, Paul Freeman, (more)
- 1986
This romantic drama is about Adam, a young coal miner (Dan O'Shea) and Terry (Jennifer Runyon), the high-class model he falls for when she has a photo shoot at the mine where he works. Terry's mother and her sleazy agent would both prefer Adam stay away from her, while his job and his position in life are on a very different level than hers. But Adam still chases after the woman of his dreams; he ends up kidnapping her and they go on a lark to Hollywood, where more adventures are in store. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan O'Shea, Jennifer Runyon, (more)
- 1980
The cast of medieval characters in this fantasy spans the traditional gamut between the chivalrous Knight (Piotr Skarga), the lovely Princess (Katarzyna Kozak), and a smattering of monks. Director Lech J. Majewski has made the difficult choice of filming his story entirely in verse. Complementing the poetry are stunning images of Medieval paintings and sculpture, along with the requisite scenery of idyllic forests and bucolic landscapes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Olbrychski
