Antoni Krauze
Directing
Biography
Film and documentary director. He was born on January 4, 1940, in Warsaw. He studied painting at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and was also associated with the Student Satirical Theatre STS (1958-1961), where he performed as an actor. A graduate of the Directing Department of the Film School in Łódź (1966). At the beginning of his career, he cooperated with the Łódź Educational Film Studio, working on the set of numerous short films during the two years he spent there. In 1968, he joined the "Tor" Film Studio. He made his debut with the television short film Monidło (1969) based on short stories by Jan Himilsbach. His two subsequent short films made in 1971 – Piżama/Pajamas based on the prose by Leszek Płażewski and Meta based on the story by Marek Nowakowski – represent similar poetics of little realism. Given its controversial appeal, Meta (which exposed social acceptance for cunning and corruption) was withheld for nine years (it premiered in 1980). Shown at the Festival in Gdańsk in 1981, the film received a Special Award. The first cinema film Krauze directed was the psychological drama Palec boży/God's Finger (1972) based on the novel by Tadeusz Zawierucha. Also the director's subsequent films were often based on the prose of contemporary authors: Strach/Fear (1975), Party przy świecach/Candlelight Dinner (1980), Gas (1981), Prognoza pogody/Weather Forecast (1982, Grand Prix at the San Remo Festival), Dziewczynka z hotelu Excelsior/The Girl from the Excelsior Hotel (1988), Akwarium/Fish Tank (1995, TV series). All his films are characterised by a heightened sensitivity towards the individual and the complex psychological portrayal of characters. Since 1990, Krauze has been directing mainly documentaries devoted to various artists, including Pisarz/The Writer (1994) by Witold Zalewski, Preisner, czyli droga do sukcesu/Preisner, Or the Path To Success (1995), Układanie życia/Settling Life (1997) about Witold Woroszylski, Idąc, spotykając…/Walking, meeting... (1999) about Stanisław Różewicz, Ćwiczenia z niepamięci/Exercise in Oblivion (2004) about Janusz Morgenstern, and Radość pisania/The Joy of Writing (2005) about Wisława Szymborska. His two documentary films made in 1998 – Szwed z „Wesela”, czyli niezdrowo i romantycznie/The Swede from "The Wedding", Or Insalubrious and Romantic, and Życie wewnętrzne, czyli hobby/Inner Life, Or the Hobby – won awards at the Short Film Festival in Kraków. He returned to feature films in 2011 with Czarny czwartek. Janek Wiśniewski padł /Black Thursday. Janek Wisniewski’s Down, a reconstruction of the dramatic events of December 1070 in Gdynia, for which he received numerous awards, including the FIPRESCI award at the festival in Montreal. Krauze died on 14 February 2018 of a heart attack at the age of 78.
Known For
The theme of the film is the activities of an emigrant emissary who, on the eve of the Spring of Nations, prepares the ground in Galicia for the outbreak of an anti-Austrian uprising. At the same time, against the backdrop of these events, the series depicts the adventures of two friends: Damasius, embroiled in political activities, and young Julius, who falls in love with a mysterious girl. All these plots center on a mysterious mansion - the "enchanted mansion" of the title.
Zaklęty dwór
Inspired by true events of 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash in Smolensk, the film tells the partially fictional story of crash and various people affected by the tragedy. The protagonist is a journalist Nina, who refuses to accept the official version of the story and pursues her own independent investigation.
Smolensk
Film based on the book of Viktor Suvorov, a former Soviet military intelligence officer. The story of the strange friendship between the two GRU officers. That relationship began in the Soviet military range where daring young officer Witek action drew the attention of Colonel Kravcov. With the protection of Colonel Witek gets to the interview. Price to be paid for this "favor" is the total loyalty to his patron.
Aquarium
The manager of a small provincial cinema finds her lost son, and he tries to save the movie theater.
I Love Cinema
Antoni Krauze reminds one of the darkest history of the cards with PRL. Spectacular reconstruction of the dramatic events in Gdynia, ended a brutal pacification of demonstrators by troops and militia in 1970.
Black Thursday
No description available.
Strach
Jan, an accountant at pre-retirement age, is on holiday at the Baltic Sea with his wife. He doesn’t enjoy her company. He doesn’t enjoy other people’s company either. The resort’s atmosphere makes him sick. One day he meets a mysterious girl on the beach. She becomes his spiritual guide.
A Little Girl from the Hotel 'Excelsior'
The 8th Plenum of the PZPR is underway. Passengers waiting for a train learn that their traffic has stopped.
Stacja
The marriage struggling with financial problems decides to impress visiting relatives.
Party przy świecach
Kazik and Władzio, two old friends meet again after many years. Kazik, a small-time swindler and playboy confesses that he needs a place to live, so Władzio offers for him to move in his apartment.
Meta
A young man from the countryside fights against all odds to fulfill his dream of becoming an actor.
God's Finger
An unexpected guest shows at the door of an apartment of a working-class family, at first asking just for a glass of water.
Monidło
When a delivery of coffins foreshadows a harsh winter, residents of a retirement home escape their confines and rediscover the world outside.
The Weather Forecast
A disturbed woman, still reeling over the death of her lover finds solace in a Swedish sailor amidst the regional conflicts of the late nineteenth century.
Kaszëbë
A woman desperate to improve her social standing goads her husband into buying pajamas - a symbol of high status.
Piżama
Anna is a seemingly content thirty-year-old wife and mother whose orderly life is upended when a rejected young suitor’s suicide attempt lands him in the psychiatric ward where she’s drawn into his recovery.
Podróż do Arabii
A documentary about the making of the film "Black Thursday", as well as the tragic events that took place on the coast in December 1970.
Czarny Czwartek - Gdynia '70. Dlaczego?
Two former classmates (one an honest working man with a wife and children, the other a conman) meet at a train station. The conman comes to stay with his old friend and slowly begins to assume the role of master of the house, taking the place of the father and husband. Made for television with a screenplay by Marek Nowakowski. The film sat on a shelf for 9 years, and was shown only on the wave of solidarity in 1980. Awards: 1981 - 8 Polish Film Festival, Gdańsk, special jury prize.
The Pad
The tragic life of five Warsaw poets who died during the World War II: Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Tadeusz Gajcy, Zdzisław Stroiński, Andrzej Trzebiński and Wacław Bojarski.
To the Offspring
A TV documentary about Polish director Stanislaw Rózewicz and his works.