Zamachowski, Zbigniew

The Pianist

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/23/2007 Run time: 150 minutes Rating: R

The Pianist (Full Screen Edition)

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm award at the 2002 Cannes film festival, The Pianist is the film that Roman Polanski was born to direct. A childhood survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, Polanski was uniquely suited to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and concert pianist (played by Adrien Brody) who witnessed the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, miraculously eluded the Nazi death camps, and survived throughout World War II by hiding among the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto. Unlike any previous dramatization of the Nazi holocaust, The Pianist steadfastly maintains its protagonist's singular point of view, allowing Polanski to create an intimate odyssey on an epic wartime scale, drawing a direct parallel between Szpilman's tenacious, primitive existence and the wholesale destruction of the city he refuses to abandon. Uncompromising in its physical and emotional authenticity, The Pianist strikes an ultimate note of hope and soulful purity. As with Schindler's List, it's one of the greatest films ever made about humanity's darkest chapter. --Jeff Shannon

Music was his passion survival was his masterpiece. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/17/2006 Starring: Adrien Brody Run time: 150 minutes Rating: R Director: Roman Polanski

The Pianist

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm award at the 2002 Cannes film festival, The Pianist is the film that Roman Polanski was born to direct. A childhood survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, Polanski was uniquely suited to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and concert pianist (played by Adrien Brody) who witnessed the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, miraculously eluded the Nazi death camps, and survived throughout World War II by hiding among the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto. Unlike any previous dramatization of the Nazi holocaust, The Pianist steadfastly maintains its protagonist's singular point of view, allowing Polanski to create an intimate odyssey on an epic wartime scale, drawing a direct parallel between Szpilman's tenacious, primitive existence and the wholesale destruction of the city he refuses to abandon. Uncompromising in its physical and emotional authenticity, The Pianist strikes an ultimate note of hope and soulful purity. As with Schindler's List, it's one of the greatest films ever made about humanity's darkest chapter. --Jeff Shannon

Music was his passion survival was his masterpiece. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/17/2006 Starring: Adrien Brody Run time: 150 minutes Rating: R Director: Roman Polanski

With Fire and Sword (Ogniem i Mieczem), Parts 1 & 2

Spectacular battles, rollicking humor, and lavish production values frame a sweeping romantic drama that all audiences will enjoy. At the time of its release, this lavish historical epic was the most expensive Polish film ever made. Based on the novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz (QUO VADIS?), this grand drama is set in 17th century Poland during the Cossack uprising against the Polish nobility. As the violent confrontation builds, a battle for the heart of a beautiful girl rages between a dashing Pole and a brutish Ukrainian. This is a special full-length version, including footage not in the original theatrical release.

White (Three Colors Trilogy)

Second of a trilogy of films dealing with contemporary french society shows a man dealing with a polish immigrant whose wife wants to divorce him because he cant perform in bed Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 03/01/2005 Run time: 91 minutes Rating: R Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski

White is the second of witty Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowki's "three colors" trilogy Blue, White, and Red--the three colors of the French flag, symbolizing liberty, equality, and fraternity. White is an ironic comedy brimming over with the hard laughs of despair, ecstasy, ambition, and longing played in a minor key.

Down-and-out Polish immigrant Karol Karol is desperate to get out of France. He's obsessed with his French soon-to-be ex-wife (Before Sunrise's Julie Delpy), his French bank account is frozen, and he's fed up with the inequality of it all. Penniless, he convinces a fellow Pole to smuggle him home in a suitcase--which then gets stolen from the airport. The unhappy thieves beat him and dump him in a snowy rock pit. Things can only get better, right? The story evolves into a wickedly funny antiromance, an inverse Romeo and Juliet. Because it's in two foreign languages, the dialogue can be occasionally hard to follow, but some of the most genuinely funny and touching moments need no verbal explanation. --Grant Balfour

The Pianist

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm award at the 2002 Cannes film festival, The Pianist is the film that Roman Polanski was born to direct. A childhood survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, Polanski was uniquely suited to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and concert pianist (played by Adrien Brody) who witnessed the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, miraculously eluded the Nazi death camps, and survived throughout World War II by hiding among the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto. Unlike any previous dramatization of the Nazi holocaust, The Pianist steadfastly maintains its protagonist's singular point of view, allowing Polanski to create an intimate odyssey on an epic wartime scale, drawing a direct parallel between Szpilman's tenacious, primitive existence and the wholesale destruction of the city he refuses to abandon. Uncompromising in its physical and emotional authenticity, The Pianist strikes an ultimate note of hope and soulful purity. As with Schindler's List, it's one of the greatest films ever made about humanity's darkest chapter. --Jeff Shannon

Exclusive 2 DVD Canadian version features, Q & A with Roman Polanski, Production Diary, The Warsaw Ghetto - Historical Background, Wladyslaw Szpilman Biography, Filmographies, Bonus Audio Tracks from the Sony Classical CD Soundtrack, Soundtrack spot, 'Story of Survival' Featurette, Theatrical Trailers, Television Spots including Adrien Brody Interview Segments, Poster Gallery, Photo Gallery & Director's Note. Widescreen Version. Aspect Ratio 1.85 1. Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1. Region 1/NTSC.

The Hexer

Geralt The White Wolf is the perfect warrior - a weapons expert who knows magic and will fight any opponent. But he is also a human being who struggles for recognition of his own humanity while battling the monsters and villains that threaten his people. With the help of his friends he defends the inhabitants of his world each day drawing nearer to his Destiny... although he doesn't know it. In the style of "The Lord of the Rings " "The Hexer" is based on the novels of Andrzej Sapkowski Poland's most talented fantasy / sci-fi author. System Requirements:Run Time: 129.0 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: FOREIGN/LATIN Rating: UNRATED UPC: 670541002575 Manufacturer No: DV90912

The Decalogue (Complete Set)

Superlatives abound when describing Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Decalogue, a series of 10 one-hour dramas originally made for Polish TV between 1988 and 1989 and seen throughout the world in film festivals and cinematheque and museum programs. Though each episode is inspired by one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible, these are not Sunday school fables illustrating some simplistic moral lesson--the connections to the individual commandments are not always obvious and are often downright curious--but powerful, profound stories of love and loss, faith and fear. Kieslowski explores ordinary people flailing through inner torments, hard decisions, and shattering revelations, grounding his stories in the faces of their deeply human characters.

Each episode is self-contained, from "Decalogue I" ("I Am the Lord Thy God"), the touching story of a boy who starts asking the hard questions of life from his rationalist father and religious aunt, to "Decalogue X" ("Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Goods"), a comic tale of estranged brothers who bond through a winding ordeal involving their father's priceless stamp collection. There are stories of tragedy and triumph, both expansive and intimate, some profoundly moving and others delicately shaded--but all are warmed by Kieslowski's sympathetic direction and his eye for resonant, fragile imagery. Initially drawn together by location--the series is set in a dreary Warsaw apartment complex--a web of associations forms as characters pass through other stories, sometimes only briefly, and themes reverberate through the series. The Decalogue is ultimately a personal spiritual investigation into the soul of man, a work of quiet attention and deep emotion marked by astounding images and vivid characters. Each volume is also available individually on VHS. --Sean Axmaker

Krzysztof Kieslowski has fashioned a cinematic masterpiece. This collection of ten films is a work of supreme daring, imagination, and sheer brilliance, riveting and profound. Each of the films uses one of The Ten Commandments as a thematic springboard. As the films in "The Decalogue" were completed, they awed audiences at film festivals worldwide. The best actors, cinematographers and film technicians joined Kieslowski and his co writer and long time collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz in these extraordinary stories. The experience of watching "The Decalogue" is so compelling and powerful that film critic Kenneth Turan wrote that to see it was "nothing less than a privilege."

White Soup -- Zurek

A multiple award-winning tale of a mother's quest for a bitter truth this drama is based on a story by popular Polish author Olga Tokarchuk. Halina a young hard-working widow tramps around a small Polish border town in search of the father of her grandchild. Her impaired teenage daughter refuses to name the father which causes a problem with the upcoming baptism. As Halina drags her daughter and grandson around town she uncovers some difficult truths about her family. "...the most delightful Polish film of the past few years" (Bright Lights Film Journal). In Polish with English subtitles.System Requirements:Running Time: 72 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 670541001073 Manufacturer No: DV71318

Squint Your Eyes

An elegant, sensitive and humorous view of the friendship between an older man and a teenage girl. The film steps outside any usual or familiar cinematic framework, becomes a much larger work than the simple story of an adult man and a teenage girl's friendship. Just like the early films of Poland's Kustorica, or like Tanovic's "No Man's Land," director Jakimowski is a master of his art, balancing gravity and irony, comedy and reality, the elements that can turn a very good film into something really great.