Acting
The story of the residents of a tenement house on Złota Street in Warsaw from 1945 to 1980.
Horror legend Christopher Lee hosts this anthology in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, each half-hour episode adapting a story from a classic author, with tales by Edgar Allen Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ambrose Bierce, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde.
The story stretches from 1863 to 1945. Its main characters are representatives of the Pasternik family, who live in the fictional village of Wielowice near Pszczyna. The protagonist of the first three episodes is Franciszek Pasternik, the following parts tell about the fate of his many children and even more grandchildren. The viewer follows their history against the backdrop of great changes and historical events that influenced the lives of Silesian Poles. So there is the Kulturkampf, Prussian rugi, the revolution of 1905, World War I and the Silesian Uprisings.
On their way to an afternoon on the lake, husband and wife Andrzej and Krystyna nearly run over a young hitchhiker. Inviting the young man onto the boat with them, Andrzej begins to subtly torment him; the hitchhiker responds by making overtures toward Krystyna. When the hitchhiker is accidentally knocked overboard, the husband's panic results in unexpected consequences.
1957. Excessively high production standards imposed by the authorities result in the plan not being fulfilled, and the workers cannot imagine living normally without rewards and bonuses. A rebellion breaks out. Worker democracy wins – the working class elects a director from among its own ranks. He is an old locksmith with no managerial experience. Although he believes in the socialist spirit and has a communist past, he does not hold the position for long, as he makes promises too easily that he is unable to keep.
A German woman on a ship returning to Europe notices a face of another woman which brings recollections from the past. She tells her husband that she had been an overseer in Auschwitz during the war, but she has actually saved a woman's life.
Tojo - garbage collector, thanks to his work, can freely move around Warsaw occupied by the Nazis. He may even be legally on the streets of the ghetto. Tojo makes new friends and has numerous contacts. The occupation of a garbage collector perfectly masks the underground activity in the ranks of the Home Army.
Set in Poland in the 1970s, the main character half-heartedly goes about his job as a censor at the state run television station, whilst conducting affairs with nurses, airline pilots, etc. Interesting scene where main character must illegally emigrate to his own country.
After a disaster in the mine, Łopot, a technician, protects the perpetrator. He soon faces a moral dilemma.
One of the passengers on a ship carrying Poles on a cruise in December 1981 is a dissident high school teacher sent abroad by Solidarity. He is under surveillance of the secret police, anxious to get their hands on the info that he is carrying. When the ship is in the middle of the Baltic sea, martial law is declared and the ship is militarized. The captain announces he will turn and return the home port. Many anguished passengers put the life vests on and jump into the sea, where they are picked up by two German ships. The teacher, however, decides to return to Poland and continue the struggle for freedom.
Janusz starts working as an inspector in a department store. One day he notices on the monitor a woman who is stealing a bottle of perfume. He resolves to let her go. Intrigued by the woman, Janek finds out that she is Monika Małecka, a leader of an influential political party, who is going to run as a party candidate in the parliamentary elections. The two develop a difficult relationship in which lack of trust together with neglect lead inevitably to its end.
A Polish priest arrives at a convent hoping to save the Mother Superior who is supposedly possessed by eight demons.
Andrzej Munk was one of the leading directors in Polish cinema. Friends and collaborators share their memories about this stunning artist and his premature tragic death.
Old Faust, a great scholar makes a pact with Mephistopheles - in exchange for his soul, the devil offers him youth and knowledge of the meaning of existence. Faust becomes a beautiful young man. He meets a young, virtuous girl Margaret - he asks Mephistopheles for help in seducing her.
Teenaged Beata, disgusted with hypocrisy around her, runs away from home.
The year is 1989, and the country's first free elections in a long time are approaching. A man in a cycling cap organizes a chain of clean hands, using it as a tool in his election campaign. In the queue outside the passport office, people chat, make plans, and ponder what's worth selling abroad. Writers observe the world around them. One of them is applying for a passport. In Dzierżyński Square, the monument to Feliks Edmundowicz is being dismantled. Two drunk men sleep on a bench, and behind them is a sign reading: "All is well." The two writers observe the ongoing transformation of the political system.
The protagonists of the film are two brothers - Smaller and Big, Filomena and the dog Klops. Big has problems at school, so he decides to run away from home. His brother decides to find him.
In 1807, Napoleon meets and falls in love with 22-year-old Polish countess Marie Walewska, who is unhappily married to a much older man. Enchanted by the blonde, blue-eyed countess, the emperor enters into an affair with Marie, who uses the relationship to induce Napoleon to treat Poland fairly.
The heroes of the series are women employed in various positions in one workplace - each episode tells about one of them. Eight women of different ages, in different life situations, have various problems, experience the troubles and joys of everyday life in their own way.
Chief Forester Szymon from the observation tower sees a professor in the forest, walking through his district. Szymon and his wife Celina later engage in a disagreement due to his indifference and refusal to react on the professor’s illegal hunting. Celina would like to see Szymon as he used to be - rebellious, but Szymon prefers not to lean out. He is aware that everyone is responsible for the evil that permeates the country - some by their actions, others by their conformism.
