Krzysztof Zanussi

17.06.1939, Warsaw, Poland

 

Director
Polish film and theatre director, screenwriter, producer, lecturer and author. He studied physics at Warsaw University (1955-1959) and philosophy at Jagiellonian University in Kraków (1959-1962), and then graduated from Lodz Film School in 1966. He started making his first amateur short films towards the end of the 1950s, filming Death of a Provincial as his graduation work at Lodz. He started filming for television, short documentaries and feature films. He filmed his first feature length for the silver screen in1969, The Structure of Crystal (Struktura krysztalu) which received an award for best script at Mar del Plata Film Festival in 1970, and one in Valladolid at a local film festival. During the 1970s his most popular films were made, while he simultaneously worked for television. His second big screen film Family Life (Zycie rodzinne, 1970) brought him a Silver Hugo in Chicago in 1971, and San Gregorio award in Valladolid in 1972. The Illumination (Iluminacja, 1973) won a FIPRESCI award, Golden Award Ecumenical Jury in Locarno in 1973, and it also received a special jury prize in his home country, at Polish Film Festival in 1974. This was followed by the awarded A Woman's Decision (Bilans Kwartalny, 1974) with Maja Komorowska in the leading role. In Polish German production he made a crime drama Pittsville - Ein Safe voll Blut (1975), after which he returned to his recognisable expression with Camouflage (1976). The film was awarded Golden Lion for best script at Polish Film Festival in 1997, receiving awards at festivals in Teheran and Rotterdam. During the 1970s he developed his central thematic character, a man put in a position of choosing between his personal values and challenges that force him to reject them. The question of moral choices and compromise between personal freedom and practical life which limits it is continued in Spiral (1978), which was his last film in the twentieth century. In the 1980s he continued filming for television and working on German productions, and as a recognized director, he made films in international co-production with actors from Poland, Germany, England and France. Among his films we should mention The Constant Factor (Constans, 1980), Imperative (1982), A Year of the Quiet Sun (Rok spokojnego slońca, 1984) where he worked with Maja Komorowska in the leading role again, and the film was awarded Golden Lion in Venice in 1984. Then he filmed The Paradigm (1985) where he collaborated with Italian actor Vittori Gassman, Wherever You Are... (1988) with English actor Julian Sands, and Inventory (1989) where he returned to working with Polish actors. In the 1990s, along with a few television films and serials he made Zycie za zycie (1991), The Touch (Dotkniecie reki, 1992) with Max von Sydow in the leading role, In Full Gallop (Cwal, 1996) with Maja Komorowska who was awarded best actress for that role (and Zanussi won the critics' award) at Polish Film Festival in 1996. Based on the drama by Pope John Paul II he made Our God's Brother (1997). In the mid-1990s he started a television film series Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) in Polish production, with its first part A Woman's Business (1996) and the last, eighth film in 2001, titled The Hidden Treasure. Drama where he addresses the question of death Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (Zycie jako smiertelna choroba przenoszona droga plciowa, 2000) has won many Polish film awards (an Eagle for best film, producer, director, script, male leading role, editing and music at Polish Film Awards in 2001, and Golden Lion, critics' award and best actor at Polish Film Festival in 2000). This was followed by The Supplement (2002), an international co-production Persona non grata (2005), Italian Black Sun (2007), Polish And a Warm Heart (2008) and currently his last film Revisited (2009). Apart from actively making films, he is the director of Polish Film Studio TOR in Warsaw and a member of European Film Academy. He has written a few books on film (On Montage in Amateur Films in 1968; A Discourse on Amateur Film in 1978) and an autobiography Time to Die (1999). He is an active lecturer at many European universities (Lodz, Silesian University in Katówice, National Film and Television School in Great Britain, schools in Denmark and Switzerland). He has also worked as theatre director in Kraków, Bonn, Milan, Palermo, Basel and Rome. He has won many awards and honorary doctorates. At Indian Film festival in Goa in 2012 he received a lifetime achievement award.

Filmography

Filmography:
Revisited (2009)
And a Warm Heart (2008)
Black Sun (2007)
Persona non grata (2005)
Solidarity, Solidarity... (2005) (omnibus, part Tanks)
The Supplement (2002)
Hidden Treasures from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (2001) (TV, mid-length)
The Soul Is Singing from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (2001) (TV, mid-length)
Life As a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (Zycie jako smiertelna choroba przenoszona droga plciowa, 2000)
Istota (2000)
Unwritten Law from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (1998) (TV, mid-length)
The Delay Line from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (1998) (TV, mid-length)
The Last Circle from Priče za vikend (Opowiesci weekendowe) (1998) (TV, mid-length)
Our God's Brother (1997)
Little Faith from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (1997) (TV, mid-length)
In Full Gallop (1996)
Deceptive Charm from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (1996) (TV, mid-length)
A Woman's Business from Weekend Stories (Opowiesci weekendowe) (1996) (TV, mid-length)
The Touch (Dotkniecie reki, 1992)
Long Conversation with a Bird (1992) (TV)
Napoleon (1991) (TV series, 1 episode)
Rosja dzisiejsza (1991) (TV)
Images and Sounds (1991) (TV)
Zycie za zycie (1991)
Witold Lutoslawski in Conversation with Krzysztof Zanussi (1990) (TV, mid-length documentary)
Inventory (1989)
Wherever You Are... (1988)
My Warsaw (1987) (TV, short documentary)
Time That Passed (1987) (mid-length, documentary)
The Paradigm (1985)
Blaubart (1984) (TV)
A Year of the Quiet Sun (Rok spokojnego slonca, 1984)
Capitali culturali d'Europa (TV series, 1 episode, 1983)
Imperative (1982)
Die Unerreichbare (1982) (TV)
The Temptation (1982) (TV)
From a Far Country (1981)
The Contract (1980) (TV)
The Constant Factor (Constans, 1980)
Wege in der Nacht (1979) (TV)
My Krakow (1979) (TV, mid-length documentary)
Spiral (1978)
Haus der Frauen (1978) (TV)
Camouflage (Barwy ochronne, 1977)
Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Baird (1977) (TV)
Brigitte Horney (1977) (short, documentary)
Lekcja anatomii (1977) (TV, mid-length)
Pittsville - Ein Safe voll Blut (1975)
A Woman's Decision (Bilans kwartalny, 1975)
Nachtdienst (1975) (TV, mid-length)
Hipoteza (1973) (TV, short)
The Illumination (Iluminacja, 1973)
Behind the Wall (1971) (TV, mid-length)
Rola (1971) (TV, short)
Family Life (Zycie rodzinne, 1970)
Mountains at Dusk (1970) (TV, short)
The Structure of Crystal (Struktura krysztalu, 1969)
Examination (1968) (TV, short)
Death of a Provinital (1968) (short)
Krzysztof Penderecki (1968) (TV, short documentary)
Face to Face (1967) (TV, short)
Computers (1967) (short)
Przemysl (1966) (TV)
Maria Dabrowska (1966) (TV)
Swiadek (1964) (short)
Studenci (1962) (short)
The Cavalryman and the Girl (1961) (short)
A Plane from Budapest (1961) (short)
Holden (1961) (short)
A Peep from the Corner (1960) (short)
Umbrella (1960) (short)
Stop Thief (1960) (short)
Prescription for John (1959) (short)
The Roof (1959) (short)
Boys from Hollow (1959) (short)
Cement and Words (1959) (short)
Tram to heaven (1958) (short)
The Lame Devil (1958) (short)


Films by this director

Iluminacija

(Iluminacja, 1973)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
Synopsis:

The film shows the story of a student, Franciszek, during the stormy 60s. At the time of the writing his doctorate, he finds out about his fatal heart disorder. Still, he is not too worried about it and continues to live normally – first he has a relationship with an older woman, and then marries. In his search for the absolute answers, he turns to religion, and later again to science. It seems possible, however, that the answers he is looking for don’t even exist…

color, 87 min

Camouflage

(Barwy ochronne, Poland, 1976)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
PHOTOGRAPHY: Edward Klosinski
Synopsis:

During a summer university seminar about linguistics, tensions rise between two professors because of politics and clash of characters. Young and well meaning, liberal idealist Jaroslaw is in charge of the seminar, supervised by older and cynical Jakub who is aware of the world he lives in. When Jaroslaw decides to take on a student whose views oppose the official politics, he clashes with Jakub for the first time. Things get worse as the thesis assessment and award ceremony day approaches. The...

color, digital,, 106 min

Spirala

(1978)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
Synopsis:

In this film Zanussi further develops the conflict between the public and individual morale, corruption, and intuition, and portrays the individual approach to death.

color, 83 min

Konstans

(1980)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
Synopsis:

This is a story about a young man whose mother has died. At work he is falsely accused of corruption and that stops him from realizing his only dream – climbing the Himalaya. His father did that before he died…

color, 92 min

A Year of the Quiet Sun

(Rok spokojnego slońca, Poland/USA/Zapadna Njema, 1984)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
PHOTOGRAPHY: Slawomir Idziak
Synopsis:

American soldier Norman and Polish widow Emilia meet in Poland after the end of World War II. Although coming from two completely different worlds, struggling with the language barrier and recovering from the horrors of war, they become friends. While Norman is waiting to go back to the USA, they fall in love and plan to leave together. But Emilia is tied to Poland because she is caring for her ill mother... The director was awarded Golden Lion for this film in Venice in 1984.

color, digital, 107 min

A Woman's Decision

(Bilans kwartalny, Poland, 1974)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
PHOTOGRAPHY: Slawomir Idziak
Synopsis:

Middle-aged Marta is a wife and a working mother with a son. She works as an accountant and is a union member. A discovery of embezzlement at work snaps her out of a boring life routine. Standing up for her colleagues, she starts questioning her life. Living with her son who is growing up, and relationship with her husband getting worse, Marta realises she wants more out of life. After meeting a friend from her past, she meets a man who could be that new beginning... The film has received three...

color, digital, 98 min

The Silent Touch

(Dotkniecie reki, Great Britain/Denmark/Poland, 1992)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
PHOTOGRAPHY: Jaroslaw Zamojda
Synopsis:

Max von Sydow plays Henry Kesdi, a brilliant seventy-year-old composer who hasn't written anything in forty years. Being Jewish, he has survived the Holocaust and now lives with his wife in Denmark. Following his own dreams, a young Polish music student Stefan visits him. He is determined to motivate Henry to work again. Old, sick, and an aggressive alcoholic, Henry immediately sends him away. Stefan slowly wins him over, but people around them will pay the price of art... Max von Sydow was awa...

color, digital, 96 min

Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease

(Zycie jako smiertelna choroba przenoszona droga plciowa, Poland / France, 2000)

Directed by: Krzysztof Zanussi
PHOTOGRAPHY: Edward Klosinski
Synopsis:

PLife, death, and the nature of human existence become a deeply personal issue to a doctor once he is faced with his own approaching death. Tomasz Berg is a Polish doctor working in France on a film about St Bernard. When he returns to his homeland, he is diagnosed with cancer and his only option is an expensive operation in Paris. He visits his ex wife Anna to ask her for the money and sets off. In Paris he is informed that the illness has progressed... The film has won thirteen prestigious aw...

color, digital, 99 min
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