1960, 107 min Poland
Polish with English subtitles
Direction/Reżyseria
ANDRZEJ MUNK
Script/Scenariusz
JERZY STEFAN STAWIŃSKI
Cinematography/Zdjęcia
JERZY LIPMAN, KRZYSZTOF WINIEWICZ
Art Direction/Scenografia
JAN GRANDYS
Music/Muzyka
JAN KRENZ
Editing/Montaż
JADWIGA ZAJIČEK
Sound/Dźwięk
HALINA PASZKOWSKA
Produced by/Produkcja
KAMERA FILM GROUP
Producer/ Producent
WILHELM HOLLENDER
Cast/ Obsada
Bogumił Kobiela (Jan Piszczyk), Maria Ciesielska (Basia), Helena Dąbrowska (Wychówka), Barbara Kwiatkowska (Jola), Krystyna Karkowska (Jola’s Mother), Barbara Połomska (Zosia), Irena Stalończyk (Irena), Tadeusz Bartosik (Wasik), Henryk Bąk (Director), Tadeusz Janczar (Sawicki), Wojciech Siemion (Józef Kacperski)
Warsaw, the 1930s. Jan Piszczyk has felt marginalized in life since his childhood. Considered a loser at home and at school, he comes to the conclusion that only the scouts can give him some standing among his peers. Playing the trumpet brings him momentary recognition, but during the parade a disaster occurs. Piszczyk decides to gain a position in society. He joins the Cadet School. War breaks out and Piszczyk manages to reach the already deserted barracks, where he dresses up in someone else’s uniform. At this point, the Germans enter and take him prisoner. Released, he returns to occupied Warsaw, where he meets Jelonek, a former colleague. He sells currency and jewelry, doing shady business. He meets a girl and experiences his first great love. To impress Basia, he pretends to be a hero of the underground resistance. Bad luck still haunts him, and this deception ends in failure.
ANDRZEJ MUNK
Born in Cracow in 1921, died in 1961. Film director, screenwriter. Studied Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology. Graduate of the National Film School in Łódź (1951). Work as a cameraman for Polish Newsreel. In 1948 joined Polish Worker’s Party, but in 1952 was expelled for his “blameworthy behavior”. He was one of the most influential film artists in Poland of the post-Stalinist period. His feature films are considered classics of the Polish Film School developed in the mid-50s. He died in a car crash before his 40th birthday while returning from Auschwitz concentration camp where he was shooting “Passenger”. Since 1965, the National Film School in Łódź awards the best debut with the Andrzej Munk Film Award.
Filmography
1963 Passenger (Pasażerka) – completed by Witold Lesiewicz
1960 Bad Luck (Zezowate szczęście)
1957 Eroica
1956 Man on the Tracks (Człowiek na torze)
1955 Blue Cross (Błękitny krzyż)
Gallery Theatre November 14 at 1:00 pm.
