Polish Cinema

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
103 minutes ; released 1979.
A man's interest in film-making develops into a mania that threatens to ruin his career and family. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.
110 minutes; released 1982.
Early in World War I, a group of Orthodox Jews flee from the Cossack army. A secluded country inn becomes their temporary refuge, where emotional attachments, brief love affairs, and even a renewed faith in humankind inspire them. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
103 minutes; released 1985.
A recent widow trying to carry on the political work of her late husband receives mysterious signals which she believes are coming from him. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
139 minutes; released 1992.
A mild-mannered man attempts to rekindle the sexual fire in his marriage while on a vacation cruise. The only problem is he falls in love with another woman. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
102 minutes; released 1976.
When an earnest Communist official is put in charge of a fertilizer factory in rural Poland, he finds himself at odds with the townspeople he is trying to help. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
98 minutes; released 1993.
A young woman loses her husband and her young daughter in a car accident. She decides to withdraw from the world and live in complete solitude in Paris. But other people intrude into her life with their own needs. In French with English subtitles.

Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.
120 minutes; released 1954.
A peasant's son becomes politically radicalized, after moving to the big city to work in a cellulose factory. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
130 minutes; released 1974.
Private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California is hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
107 minutes; released 1966.
Study of the breakdown of rational behavior when two gangsters on the run take refuge in an old castle on a desolate Northumbrian island, but find their nemesis in the effeminate owner and his voluptuous wife. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Munk.
86 minutes; released 1957.
An engine driver is found slumped across train tracks in the middle of the night. Characters who knew the man investigate his death, each relating their own interpretation. This classic of anti-Stalinism film examines the problems of 1950s Poland. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
156 minutes; released 1977.
In 1976, a young woman in Krakow is making her diploma film, looking behind the scenes at the life of a 1950s bricklayer. She studies his stint as a proletariat hero, how that heroism was created, and what became of him. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
103 minutes; released 1994.
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government. In English, with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
55-minute episodes; released 1989.
Kieślowski's series of ten dramas each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Krauze.
107 minutes; released 1999.
Two Polish entrepreneurs become enmeshed in the criminal web of a Russian thug. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
97 minutes; released 1991.
Weronika is a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Veronique, is a French music teacher. Though they are unknown to each other, the two women share an enigmatic, purely emotional bond. In Polish and French dialogue with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Marek Koterski.
105 minutes; released 2002.
A black comedy that chronicles one day in the life of a 49 year-old teacher who is completely disillusioned with his reality. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Piotr Trzaskalski.
97 minutes; released 2002.
Tells the story of two scrap metal pickers, Edi and his friend Jureczek. Edi is falsely accused of raping the sister of a local thug which leads to tragedy and joy as Edi is made to care for her little baby. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Munk.
80 minutes; released 1958.
This feature is an example of a farse on the Polish myth of romantic heroism. The Warsaw Uprising is looked at through the eyes of a drunken marketeer. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
114 minutes; released 1990.
True story of a young German Jew who must take on various identities during the war in order to hide his Jewish heritage. In German and Russian with English, French or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
107 minutes; released 1967.
A spoof of old vampire films finds a young maiden kidnapped by a Jewish vampire and his gay son. In English or French, with English, French or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Stanisław Lenartowicz.
95 minutes; released 1964.
In this comedy set in German-occupied Poland during World War II, Maria, a fearless Polish girl, unwillingly brings an Italian soldier and deserter of the Eastern front into her Warsaw apartment. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Jan Jakub Kolski.
100 minutes; released 1993.
An aging peasant discovers that he is suddenly gifted with the power to make it rain, heal the sick, and cause water to flow upwards. He sets off to perform miracles for the local folk, who follow him and hang on his every deed. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Michael Anderson.
95 minutes; released 1988.
A movie adaptation of a play by Pope John Paul II about love and family. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
92 minutes; released 1957.
Second film in Wajda's trilogy of war films (A Generation, Ashes and Diamonds); begins on the 56th day of the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis. It depicts the dignity of ordinary people in the face of unspeakable horror. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
121 minutes; released 2007.
Dramatization of the massacre of 20,000 people (interned Polish officers as well as civilians accused of treason by the occupying Soviet forces) by the Soviet secret police at Katyn in the spring of 1940, and the cover-up that followed. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Feliks Falk.
93 minutes; released 2005.
A hard-nosed debt collector, Lucek, mercilessly repossesses anything from defibrillator machines from hospitals to a statue of the Virgin Mary, without remorse. But things invariably start to unravel for Lucek, and an "epiphany" turns him into a human being, despite everyone's doubts. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
101 minutes; released 1970.
A love story between two Poles at the end of World War II portraying the destructive effects of war on the human spirit. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krysztof Kieslowski.
83 minutes; released 1988.
A young man's voyeuristic pursuit of an older neighbour leads to full-blown obsession. When at last he confronts her with his feelings, he sets into motion a psychological entanglement from which neither emerges the same. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krysztof Kieslowski.
81 minutes; released 1988.
Three strangers--a drifter, a cabbie, and a young lawyer--are brought together through a shocking act of violence. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Aleksander Ford.
166 minutes; released 1960.
A portrayal of medieval life and customs featuring the battle of Grunwald (1410). A strong portrayl of the fight for independance in medieval Poland and the greatest battle of medieval Europe. In Polish with English subtitles.

Derected by Maciej Zak.
86 minutes; released 2004.
Based on the play by Aleksander Gelman, the movie shows the inner fights between the need for love and the worry about the responsibilities it brings, between the need for closeness and the lack of understanding, the fight between the want to settle and the of being loved and adored. In Polish with English subtitles.

Derected by Andrzej Wajda.
89 minutes; released 1959.
A fictionalized homage to the service of the Polish cavalry in World War II. The cavalry is symbolized by Lotna, a white horse first appearing under a barrage of shellfire, and ultimately ridden into battle against the invading tanks of Nazi Germany. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
140 minutes; released 1971.
Version of William Shakespeare's play about a man who kills the king of Scotland and usurps the throne. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.
108 minutes; released 1960.
This allegory of good vs. evil, chastity vs. passion, is based on actual events which occurred at a convent in Loudun, France. In the movie the Mother Superior of a seventeenth century Polish convent comes to desire the priest investigating demonic possession among the nuns. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by K. C. Lynch.
76 minutes; released 1995.
Leonardo Defilippis' one-man dramatization of the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was martyred by the Nazis. In English.

Directed by Stanislaw Bareja.
111 minutes; released 1981.
A man who is president of a sports club is about to go abroad with his team. During passports control it turns out that there is a problem with his passport. After a number of hilarious adventures, he finally gets on the plane only to spot his former wife. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Wiktor Grodecki.
128 minutes; released 2003.
This film adapts Stainslaw Igncay Witkiewicz's novel about the collapse of Western civilization as seen thought the eyes of confused 18-year-old boy. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
83 minutes; released 1960.
A successful young doctor endlessly sought after by women is attracted to a woman who seems to have disappeared after their evening of conversation. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
133 minutes; released 1999.
Dean Corso is an unscrupulous rare-book dealer who is hired to locate the last remaining copies of a demonic manuscript that can summon the devil. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
94 minutes; released 1962.
A young hitchhiker joins a couple on a weekend yacht trip. In Polish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
130 minutes; released 2005.
Polanski offers a slightly darker version of the classic Charles Dickens tale. In English or French, with English or French subtitles.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
105 minutes; released 1992.
A young boy disappears, and then is found six years later. In French, with English subtitles.

Directed by Joseph Sargent.
113 minutes; released 2003.
A Jewish Hungarian doctor is accused of collaborating with the Nazis at Auschwitz. In English.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
111 minutes; released 1979.
After 15 years away, Wiktor returns to Wilko, where he spent an important part of his life, and realizes he has had an impact on the town and its people. His presence in turn forces the young girls of Wilko to evaluate their lives and failures. In Polish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
150 minutes; released 1999.
A grand and patriotic tale of Poland's struggle for freedom just before Napoleon's war with Russia. The story follows two feuding Polish families as they overcome their old conflicts and petty lives. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
148 minutes; released 2002.
Based on the true story of the talented pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew, who avoided being deported to a Nazi death camp during World War II by hiding in the ruins of Warsaw. In English or French, with optional French subtitles.

Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.
93 minutes; released 1959.
Jerzy, a man running from the authorities, and Marta, who's trying to escape her spurned lover, end up in the same sleeper berth on an overnight train. In Polish.

Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.
111 minutes; released 1954.
In the follow-up to the acclaimed Cellulose, a mature Szczesny falls in love for the first time against the backdrop of tension between the Polish government and the labor movement. This is a depiction of a true working-class hero. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Jerzy Stuhr.
96 minutes; released 2003.
When he walks out onto the streets, a man does not recognize the world which he thought he knew. How can he find himself in the new reality? How can he distinguish the truth from the reality show? In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
85 minutes; released 1955.
First film in Wajda's trilogy of war films (Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds). A group of young Poles help escapees during the Warsaw ghetto uprising. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
105 minutes; released 1958.
A young Polish nationalist assassin attempts to deal with post-war life. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Jan Jakub Kolski.
152 minutes; released 2003.
Set in 1943 in occupied Poland; two older men visiting a country estate become obsessed with the lives of their host's daughter and the son of the local bailiff. As they try to ignite a love affair between the two young people their personalities become submerged and they eventually become the victims of their own manipulations. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Marek Kondrat.
98 minutes; released 1999.
It's Martha's 16th birthday; against her father's direct orders, Martha and her young boyfriend celebrate the evening. But she's in for more trouble than she ever imagined possible. The only person who can save her now is her father, who must take drastic actions that he may live to regret. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski.
114 minutes; released 1987.
This film imagines three possible futures for a young medical student, which hinge on his catching or missing a train. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski.
110 minutes; released 1992.
A Polish KGB agent struggles as his life is changed during Poland's transition from communism. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
170 minutes; released 1951.
Returning to Rome after 3 years in the field, General Marcus Vinicius meets and falls in love with the devout Christian, Lygia. She doesn't want to have anything to do with the warrior. In English or dubbed French dialogue, English, French, Japanese or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski.
99 minutes; released 1994.
The story of the relationships between a young model, a retired judge, and other people in their lives. The third part of Kieslowski's trilogy, Trois Couleurs. In French with English subtitles.

Directed by Wojciech Has.
182 minutes; released 1965.
Army officer finds a magical manuscript in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. He begins to live out the intricate story lines of the book and embarks on a journey across time and space. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
105 minutes; released 1965.
Carol, who works in a beauty salon in London, is both repulsed and fascinated by men... In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
136 minutes; released 1968.
Based on Ira Levin's bestselling novel, Mia Farrow plays "a young mother-to-be who grows increasingly suspicious that her over-friendly elderly neighbors and self-involved actor husband are hatching a satanic plot against her and her baby." In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Tadeusz Konwicki.
99 minutes; released 1965.
A man hops off a train by the small town.When he begins claiming that he has been there before, the villagers are confused as none of them recognize him. Still one family takes him in; they try to get him to tell about his clouded past, but all he will tell them is that he changed his name from Kowalski to Malinowski to throw off those who would kill him. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Steven Spielberg.
196 minutes; released 1993.
Set in Krakow (Poland), this is the true story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, womanizer, and war profiteer, who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during World War II. In English, French or Spanish, with English, French or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Juliusz Machulski.
116 minutes; released 1984.
Two men, voluntarily hibernated in 1991, are awakened 53 years later to learn that males don't exist anymore. A nuclear war destroyed everything, including men. Women are ruling from the underground. Facing harsh treatment from their female guards, these two men are determined to save themselves and reestablish the male population. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
150 minutes; released 1982.
A Polish-Catholic woman who has survived a Nazi concentration camp falls in love with a Jew in 1947 Brooklyn. Audio-track in English, with optional Spanish subtitles. Based on the novel by William Styron. Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol.

Directed by Piotr Weresniak.
100 minutes; released 2001.
At a small remote gas station in the middle of a winter snowstorm, a badly injured gangster shows up with a bag full of money. In Polish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Jan Jakub Kolski.
101 minutes; released 1996.
Story of a famed military officer nearing the end of his own life. Before he can rest in peace, he must fulfill the traditional obligation of passing his sword on to his grandson. The problem is, his son is unmarried... In Polish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Maciej Englert.
107 minutes; released 1999.
Arthur is a son who knows best and wants to bring order to his free-spirited family of bohemians. His miscalculations result in the rise of the barbarians and the destruction of the world as he knows it. Slawomir Mrozek's most popular work, Tango defies categorization, combining elements of farce, absurdist theatre, slapstick comedy and political discourse. In Polish, no subtitles.

Directed by Maciej Slesicki.
125 minutes; released 1995.
When his marriage falls apart, a father decides to kidnap his daughter rather than let the court award custody to his mentally ill wife. In Polish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
172 minutes; released 1979.
A beautiful farm girl finds work with the rich d'Urberville family. One of her employers rapes her, however. She becomes pregnant, the child dies, and soon afterwards she falls in love with a parson's son who abandons her when he learns she isn't a virgin. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
118 minutes; released 1999.
A priest who has lost his faith must investigate the possible sanctity of a dead woman. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
117 minutes; released 1988.
A feature-length movie based on the life of Father Jerzy Popielusko, the Polish priest who was murdered by the Communist authorities on account of his support of the Solidarity union. In English with English subtitles.

Directed by Wojciech Smarzowski.
109 minutes; released 2004.
A wealthy man from a small town throws a big wedding party for his daughter. While it evolves, among the guests the bride recognizes her ex-boyfriend with whom she is still in love, and who is a cameraman at the wedding. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski.
92 minutes; released 1994.
A Polish man marries a French woman and moves to Paris. The marriage breaks down and the man is left a beggar. He eventually moves back to Poland. The second part of Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy, Trois Couleurs. In French and Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Marek Brodzki.
130 minutes; released 2001.
A sterile mutant with supernatural abilities becomes a professional killer. Based on the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. In Polish.

Directed by Xawery Zulawski.
110 minutes; released 2009.
Based on the novel by Dorota Maslowska "Wojna polsko-ruska pod flaga bialo-czerwona". In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
94 minutes; released 1969.
Inspired by the death of Polish actor Zbigniew Cybulski, this film focuses on the behind-the-scenes lives of a director and his actors when they are disrupted by the mysterious murder of their leading man. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
100 minutes; released 2002.
The hilarious tale of two 17th century families divided by love, greed and a crumbling stone wall through the middle of their castle. Based on Aleksander Fredro's epic poem. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Munk.
108 minutes; released 1960.
A middle-aged man desperately wants to remain in prison, though the state says it is time for him to go. As he tells his life story of hard luck and misfortune, covering the years from 1930 to 1950, it is clear that he has been so busy trying to please others that he never noticed the enormous changes happening around him. In Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
138 minutes; released 1975.
Interpretation of a classic epic depicting the changes in values ushered in by the industrial revolution. Three friends build a factory in Lodz but are sidetracked by local politics and a dangerous love affair. In Polish with English, French, German, Spanish, Russian or Italian subtitles.

Directed by Andrzej Jakimowski.
92 minutes; released 2002.
Former teacher Jasiek, now caretaker of a farm in the Polish countryside, finds his quiet life disrupted when a former student runs away from home and come to hide out on the farm. When the girl's pretentious parents follow, Jasiek tries to do the right thing for everyone. In Polish with English subtitles.