The audience will undoubtedly enjoy this retrospective, be it those who might have already seen some of these films, or younger generations who rarely get to see the works of this author, as well as of many other important film makers



gh the great Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi (born in 1939) has made another six films in this century, those familiar with his work will find his last film made in the previous century (also the latest one in this retrospective), Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (Zycie jako smiertelna choroba przenoszona droga plciowa, 2000), rather unusual for an author who is quite religious (although he never declares it in his films), and puts his characters in moral dilemmas, usually in typical everyday life situations. They struggle to find a deeper meaning to their existence, and Zanussi takes it really far in search of a film image equivalent to those states of mind. Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease won all the most important national awards in 2000, as well as a number of international ones, such as the one at Moscow International Film Festival. The title of the film might have seemed like a change in director's aesthetic, but it was only an interesting self-ironic detachment which Zanussi copied from a graffiti on a neighbouring house. The protagonist is a doctor who is diagnosed with cancer, and the film's interesting plot deals with the doctor's struggle to find balance between faith and rationality, humanity and spirituality, death and eternal life.

Zanussi had already dealt with similar themes of daily life problems, with some of them at least, at the beginning of his professional work on film. First he studied physics, then philosophy, making award winning amateur films all along. That motivated him to enrol in Lodz Film School, graduating in 1966 with his short film Death of a Provincial (Śmierć Prowincjala), which was awarded at a number of international film festivals. Although Polish cinema went through a crisis in the 1960s, due to the ruling party repression which resulted in emigration of its great authors Polanski and Skolimowski, Zanussi bravely debuted with The Structure of Crystal (Struktura krysztalu, 1969), about two physicists who take different paths in life – one compromises himself to reach a high position, and the other, “less flexible” one, ends up in a weather station in the middle of nowhere. Fundamental characteristic of his work was already seen there: occupied with ethical problems of the modern world and research in film expression (slow rhythm, long frames, suggestive atmosphere of the film image focused in researching spiritual moods). It brought him critics' recognition and international awards, which made him the most admired Polish film maker of the 1970s, alongside Andrzej Wajda. A Woman's Decision (Bilans Kwartalny, 1974) appeals to wider audiences with its story of a woman in her thirties, who is in dilemma regarding her life choices, not finding any meaning in daily routine. Camouflage (Barwy ochronne, 1976), together with Wajda's Man of Marble (1976), is the most successful example of the prevailing social criticism in Polish cinema at the time, which opened the door to new freedom not only in art and film, but the society in general, despite the somewhat liberal government's opposition.

"State of war" was proclaimed in the 1980s, a military dictatorship of a kind, so Zanussi mainly worked in East Germany where he was making successful TV films at the end of the last century. He filmed From a Far Country (Da un paese lontano) in Italy in 1981, a biography of Pope John Paul II. Still, his most important film from that period (and his last that was shown in Croatia as part of regular cinema programme) is A Year of the Quiet Sun (Rok spokojnego slońca, 1984) in Polish, American and German co-production. The story is set immediately after World War II along the new border between Germany and Poland, where a Polish war widow and an American soldier fall in love, an element of humanity Zanussi considers to be able to overcome the horrors of war. Unlike in his other films, here Zanussi doesn't only focus on intimate drama which deals with a few emphasised ethical issues, but he points out the complexity of many problems occurring in the dramatic days after the war, through the protagonists and many other characters. Thus he made one of his best and most complex films of superb rhythm and impressive visual beauty, thanks to fantastic interpretations of Maja Komorowska and Scott Wilson.

In the last twenty years Zanussi has been mostly filming in Poland, and our audience has had the opportunity to see his excellent series Weekend Stories (Opowieści weekendove, 1996 – 2000) on national television. It talks about common people in everyday situations, through which Zanussi remains consistent in expressing his world view, and yet indirectly speaks about important ethical and moral issues of the contemporary society. He still mainly makes films in collaboration with producers from his own, as well as from other countries, such as Great Britain, Sweden, and also Denmark in one of his best films of that period - The Silent Touch (Dotkniecie reki, 1992), a complex film about artist's position and his relationship to others, about many forms of love and choosing the right path, and yet again about the meaning of life and moral dilemmas.

The films of one of the greatest Polish and European directors will surely be a pleasure to watch, for those who might have already seen some of them, as well as for younger generations who rarely get to see the works of this author, and of many other important film makers.