Directory of World Cinema: East Europe
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- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsTadeusz LomnickiUrszula ModrzynskaTadeusz JanczarStory of youth during the German occupation of Poland in World War II who come to adulthood through love and adversity.
- DirectorJuraj JakubiskoStarsJozef KronerStefan KvietikMichal DocolomanskýA historic mega-film, one family saga, three generations (1887 -1917) assimilated to the bee community in the hive. The queen bee serves as a big mother that symbolizes the family and national roots, the power and meaning of tradition and the return to it. The mosaic of the bricklaying Pichanda family's lives is made of love, hope, hard work, human understanding and also the tragedies of economic crisis, war and human malice. Dreams, symbols, and life in all its forms create a colored rainbow spanning from birth to death and from mystery to reality and back.
- DirectorAleksandar PetrovicStarsBeba LoncarMiha BalohMilos ZuticA young man falls in love with the girl who he met by accident.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsZbigniew CybulskiEwa KrzyzewskaWaclaw ZastrzezynskiAs World War II and the German occupation ends, the Polish resistance and the Soviet forces turn on each other in an attempt to take over leadership in Communist Poland.
- DirectorAndrzej MunkStarsBogumil KobielaMaria CiesielskaHelena DabrowskaThe story is an odyssey of a little man through Poland of 1930 to 1950. It shows his attempts to cope with a changing world which seems to have no place for him. He has no consciousness of any kind but is always on the verge of turning into a more coherent human being, only to be slapped down. It begins with the hero's childhood. Then comes the first love marred by his unwilling involvement in fascict politics, him being taken for a Jew because of his nose. Later he decides to join the army to charm the girl, but arrives too late for any fighting. He is arrested by entering German troops while he dresses in officer's uniform and mistakenly sent to POW camp as an officer.
- DirectorJuraj JakubiskoStarsPhilippe AvronJirí SýkoraMagda VásáryováThree adolescent war orphans seclude themselves in an anarchic and playful existence of denial and juvenile joy.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsLadislav JakimPavla MartinkovaJan VostrcilReality movie of a few days in the life of a Czech teenager when he starts work.
- DirectorWalerian BorowczykStarsMichel SimonGeorges WilsonJacques PerrinBlanche is the young, pure, beautiful wife of the Master of the castle, in a secluded land. Every man is in love with her, including the King and his servant Bartolomeo, visiting the Master.
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsBoguslaw LindaTadeusz LomnickiZbigniew ZapasiewiczWitek runs after a train. Three variations follow on how such a seemingly banal incident could influence the rest of Witek's life.
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsJerzy StuhrMalgorzata ZabkowskaEwa PokasAn ordinary factory worker buys a camera on the occasion of the birth of his child. The authorities order him to make documentaries about the factory's success. But his endeavor to be truthful leads him to opposition against censorship.
- DirectorKrzysztof ZanussiStarsPiotr GarlickiZbigniew ZapasiewiczChristine PaulA group of students are spending the summer vacation at a university camp studying the science of linguistics. One of the camp directors, Jaroslaw, is a young professor who prefers the straightforward, intimate approach to students. He is opposed in his liberal views by Jakub, who likes to manipulate people. There is a confrontation from the beginning when Jaroslaw allows to attend the seminar a student who presents the views not according to the official line. In the end, a jury prize is given to mediocre paper, while the suspected school of thought still draws a recommendation. Finally the deputy rector arrives for the closing ceremonies, and since he disfavors the line of thought awarded by the recommendation the tensions rise. They climax when student in question bites the rector in the ear while receiving recommendation. The confrontation results in a scandal and the police is called in.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsTeresa IzewskaTadeusz JanczarWienczyslaw GlinskiIn 1944, during the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, Polish Lieutenant Zadra and his resistance fighters use Warsaw's sewer system to escape the German encirclement.
- DirectorJirí MenzelStarsRudolf HrusínskýVlastimil BrodskýFrantisek RehákThe friends enjoy the charms of nature - and of their guests.
- DirectorJirí MenzelStarsVáclav NeckárJosef SomrVlastimil BrodskýAn apprentice train dispatcher at a village station seeks his first sexual encounter and becomes despondent when he is unable to perform.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsDonald PleasenceFrançoise DorléacLionel StanderIn search of help, two wounded gangsters on the run find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsIvana KarbanováJitka CerhováMarie CeskováAfter realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?
- DirectorBéla TarrStarsMiklós Székely B.Vali KerekesGyula PauerA lonely barfly falls in love with a married bar singer.
- DirectorAleksandar PetrovicStarsOlga VujadinovicLjubisa SamardzicVjekoslav AfricA married woman is living an unexcited life, until she meets a man who is able to put a smile on her face again, at least for one day.
- DirectorJan NemecStarsLadislav JánskyAntonín KumberaIlse BischofovaTwo Jewish boys escape from a train transporting them from one concentration camp to another. The film goes beyond the themes of war and anti-Nazism and concerns itself with man's struggle to preserve human dignity.
- DirectorMárta MészárosStarsZsuzsa CzinkócziÁgnes CsereAnna PolonyHaving lost her parents to Stalin's purges, a girl returns from Soviet Union to her native Hungary to live with her Stalinist aunt.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsSlavko StimacSlobodan AligrudicLjiljana BlagojevicA young man's personality is shaped, involving some weird happenings around.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsAndrás BálintMiklós GáborDániel ErdélyA boy in Budapest loses his father in 1945, when he was the age of six. He does not remember much of the father but fantasizes that he performed various heroic feats.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsDragoljub AleksicBratoljub GligorijevicVera JovanovicDocumentary about the famous Serbian athlete and movie enthusiast who made a feature film during the Nazi occupation of Belgrade and had some problems after the liberation because of that.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsTadeusz LomnickiKrystyna StypulkowskaWanda KoczeskaA young doctor and jazz drummer, is also a womanizer who meets one night another yet finally interesting girl, who all but forces herself into his apartment where they play the game of appearances, both unable to confess their love to each other.
- DirectorIvan PasserStarsKarel BlazekZdenek BezusekVera KresadlováOne of the most important films of the Czech New Wave 60s, it was ranked among the top ten domestic films of all time. In this original sad comedy set in a small town, two classmates meet each other for the first time in ten years. They are both musicians: one is a member of the regional symphony orchestra, while the other is a local music teacher who performs at funerals.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsAndrzej ChyraMaja OstaszewskaArtur ZmijewskiAn examination of the Soviet slaughter of thousands of Polish officers and citizens in the Katyn forest in 1940.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsLeon NiemczykJolanta UmeckaZygmunt MalanowiczA couple pick up a hitchhiker on the way to their yacht. The husband invites the young man to come along for their day's sailing. As the voyage progresses, the antagonism between the two men grows. A violent confrontation is inevitable.
- DirectorAleksander FordStarsUrszula ModrzynskaGrazyna StaniszewskaAndrzej SzalawskiIn the 15th century the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is facing a hard struggle against the neighboring Teutonic Order.Frequent clashes between the two powers finally culminate in 1410 with the Battle of Grunwald.
- DirectorJirí MenzelStarsRudolf HrusínskýVlastimil BrodskýVáclav NeckárSet in the late 1940s, the film concerns the treatment of suspect "bourgeois elements", a professor, a saxophonist, and a milkman, who are put to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation.
- DirectorKároly MakkStarsLili DarvasMari TörőcsikIván DarvasThe wife of a political prisoner tends to her mother-in-law and keeps from the old woman the truth about her son, whom she believes is in New York making a film.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsEva RasSlobodan AligrudicRuzica SokicA young female starts a love relationship with a serious young man. However, while he is away on business, she gets lonely and succumbs to her colleague's desires.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsJudit HalászAndrás BálintEdit KelemenJancsi reminiscences about Kata his childhood friend in WWII Budapest, They are separated as a result of 1956 revolution. Reunited as adults, they struggle with whether they will stay in each others lives.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsHana BrejchováVladimír PucholtVladimír MensíkA factory manager in rural Czechoslovakia bargains with the army to send men to the area, to boost the morale of his young female workers, deprived of male company since the local boys have been conscripted. The army sends reservists, mostly married middle-aged men - and the local beauty Andula, spurns those bold enough to try to win her, for the jazz pianist, newly come from Prague to perform. He seduces her and impresses her, telling her "most women are round, like guitars but you are a guitar by Picasso". Staying the night with him causes a lecture on a young woman's honour at her hostel so she throws over her other suitors and makes her way to Prague to find the young man. His protective Mamma and weary Pappa are not pleased when she arrives on the doorstep with her suitcase.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsMilena DravicJanez VrhovecEva RasA love romance between older, respectable engineer that came in the industrial town to do some expert job and young hairdresser in whose house he stayed in and the consequences of that relationship, especially after young driver gets involved.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsKrystyna JandaJerzy RadziwilowiczTadeusz LomnickiA young Polish filmmaker sets out to find out what happened to Mateusz Birkut, a bricklayer who became a propaganda hero in the 1950s but later fell out of favor and disappeared.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsJosef KemrMagda VásáryováNada HejnaA grim portrayal of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in medieval central Europe - as a young virgin promised to God is kidnapped and raped by a marauder who her religious father seeks to kill in return.
- DirectorJerzy KawalerowiczStarsLucyna WinnickaMieczyslaw VoitAnna CiepielewskaA priest is sent to a small parish in the Polish countryside which is believed to be under demonic possession and there he finds his own temptations awaiting.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsAndrás KozákSergey NikonenkoBéla BarsiIn the final days of WWII, a seventeen-year-old boy wanders the countryside. He is captured by Soviet troops, then released, then captured once more - after he has donned a German uniform for warmth - and imprisoned at a remote barracks, where he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Russian soldier. His attempts to return home form the crux of this wonderfully lyrical film, which displays all of the director's consistent themes: the psychological presence of landscape, the randomness of violence, the arbitrary nature of power.
- DirectorAndrzej MunkWitold LesiewiczStarsAleksandra SlaskaAnna CiepielewskaJan KreczmarWhile aboard a transatlantic passenger ship, a German woman, Liza, notices someone who looks like Marta, a former inmate at Auschwitz, where Liza used to be a guard.
- DirectorVera ChytilováJaromil JiresJirí MenzelStarsPavla MarsálkováFerdinand KrutaEmil IserleSet against the backdrop of a repressed Czechoslovakia, five non-related vignettes are presented, each showcasing the need and want for human connection. In "Mr. Baltazar's Death", a middle aged couple who are experts at mechanics, travel to a motorcycle race where they congregate with the masses on the section of the course where historically there has been the most action of the destructive kind. In "Imposters", two elderly hospital patients talk about their past professional glories as a journalist and light opera star respectively. Each man wants to hear about the other more than tell his own story for good reason. In "The House of Joy", two national insurance agents believe they have an easy sale when they visit an elderly goat farmer/amateur painter, who uses whatever surface as his canvass, and paints his life and his dreams. But the sale will not be as easy as the men first believe it will be. In "The Restaurant the World", a wedding reception is taking place in one part of a busy self-serve diner. The reception guests are oblivious to the sadness of real life taking place all around their small current vacuum of a world, with the bride determined to make the most of *her* night. And in "Romance", a working class lad, out on the town on his own, is mesmerized by a young Romani girl.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsAndrea DrahotaGyöngyi BürösErzsi CserhalmiSet in the 1890s on the Hungarian plains, a group of farm workers go on strike in-which they face harsh reprisals and the reality of revolt, oppression, morality and violence.
- DirectorDusan HanákStarsJuraj NvotaIva BittováJosef HlinomazJakub, a dreamer and budding magician, juggles between parcels and services rendered to the villagers. His eyes cross that of the beautiful gypsy Jolanka. Together, they will try to live a first and big love, despite the pressure of their respective communities.
- DirectorStefan UherStarsEmilia ZimkováVeronika JeníkováValéria JergováJohanka (Milka Zimkova) had a fling with a well digger (Peter Vons) she had not met before and who, she was most likely certain, would never be around again. Just before his departure, they have sex and she eventually becomes single mother of a baby girl. 18 years later (her now 18-year-old daughter Paulina, Veronika Jenikova) commutes by bus to work in the nearby city, which gives the village gossips the occasional opportunity to remind her of her unknown father. A resultant conflict with her mother makes Paulina take up residence in the city. Johanka, prodded by her also-single friend Jozefka (Marie Logojdova) who maintains that a woman without a man is nothing, begins to woo the new teacher Jarek (Jiri Klepl) only to discover later that he is married. Paulina, in the meantime, loses her virginity to the soldier Jirka (Ivan Klecka) who promptly makes himself scarce. Johanka fails to consider that she actually has a better life than some of her married neighbors, begins to see abortion or marriage as Paulina's only options, and places personals on her behalf. Although Stefan (Lubomír Paulovic), one of the men who respond, turns out to be less than ideal, Paulina falls for him. As Stefan's car breaks down on the way to the elaborate wedding party and the cake adorned with a doll he is bringing begins to melt in the heat, Paulina, in her wedding dress and tipsy before the ceremony, suffers miscarriage, perhaps as a result of Johanka's earlier attempt to induce abortion that would look as if it occurred spontaneously. The car that carries Paulina to the hospital passes Stefan's car towed by a farm tractor, but none of the involved notice.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsJerzy PichelskiAdam PawlikowskiJerzy MoesPoland, during the World War. Lotna is a magnificent specimen of Arabian horse, the pride of her owner, too old to actually ride her but to whom she remains faithful nevertheless. The Polish cavalry army is also proud of their land, and loyal to rules, and custom. The German army is leading an overwhelming speed attack with tanks, an almost unheard of weapon, and bringing a way of life to an end. It's the last battle between Lotna (speed horse) and Blitzkriega (speed war).
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsCarole LaurePierre ClémentiAnna PrucnalAfter winning the "most virgin" contest, Miss Canada is married to a rich milk tycoon. But she quickly flees the marriage to experience the world around her, full of sweetness and anarchy.
- StarsArtur BarcisOlgierd LukaszewiczOlaf LubaszenkoTen television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.
- DirectorKarel KachynaStarsJirina BohdalováRadoslav BrzobohatýGustav OpocenskýAfter coming home from a Party gathering one night, a Czech official becomes convinced that he is about to be the subject of a political purge and tries to do damage control, while also dealing with his turbulent marriage.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJan VostrcilJosef SebánekJosef ValnohaA volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.
- DirectorBéla TarrStarsAndrás SzabóJolan FodorImre DonkóPortrait of a young unstable man, unable to find happiness with a woman. Once a factory worker and nurse. Plays the violin, get kicked out of music school. Becomes a disc jockey.
- DirectorJan NemecStarsHelena PejskováJana PracharováZdena SkvoreckaA small group of bourgeois guests head for a birthday party of a prominent figure. As they go through the woods and have a picnic, they are suddenly surrounded by a bunch of suspicious strangers.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsKrystyna MikolajewskaMikhail KozakovTatyana KonyukhovaDuring the Russian Civil War, the Red Army - aided by Hungarian Communists - and the White Army fight for control of the area surrounding the Volga.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsJános GörbeZoltán LatinovitsTibor MolnárIn Hungary, the national movement led by Kossuth has been crushed and the Austrian hegemony re-established, but partisans carry on with violent actions. In order to root out the guerilla, the army rounds up suspects and jails them in an isolated fort. The authorities do not have the identity of the guerilla leaders, who are supposed to be present among the prisoners. However, they know enough about some of the suspects to apply perfidious forms of coercion effectively.
- DirectorWojciech HasStarsZbigniew CybulskiIga CembrzynskaElzbieta CzyzewskaUpon finding a book that relates his grandfather's story, an officer ventures through Spain meeting a wide array of characters, most of whom have a story of their own to tell.
- DirectorJán KadárElmar KlosStarsIda KaminskaJozef KronerFrantisek ZvaríkA carpenter in the Fascist Slovak State is appointed "Aryan controller" of a Jewish widow's store.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsMalgorzata BraunekLeszek TeleszynskiJan NowickiSet during the occupation of Poland during World War II. Some German soldiers slaughter a woman, her son, and mother-in-law. The husband and his father escape by being in the forest. The husband decides to join the resistance but at the first meeting the Gestapo kills his go-between and chases him. During his escape he gets into the apartment of a pregnant woman in labor and helps her with the childbirth. He works in the typhus center where he is a guinea pig for lice after being immunized to make more vaccine. He goes to the hospital to end the misery of a man mistaken as him and tortured. He seems to see his own body and is finally reconciled with himself.
- DirectorZdenek PodskalskýStarsVlastimil BrodskýRudolf HrusínskýMilos KopeckýThis castle has its own ghost - a mysterious White lady. She emerges from the painting on the wall when someone speaks out magic formula. White lady is good ghost, she can make someone's wishes true. Even if it is a new duct. But a miracle is not the thing that Communist leaders want in the town.
- DirectorPéter BacsóStarsFerenc KállaiLajos ÖzeZoltán FábriBanned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, which was also well received by critics and general audiences alike when it was finally released outside of Hungary. Its candid and realistic portrayal of the incompetent communist regime has earned great acclaim for both the director and the film itself when it was shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. 'The Witness' takes place during the height of the Rákosi Era, which was closely modeled after the ruthless and brutal Stalin regime. The film follows the life of an ordinary dike keeper, József Pelikán, who has been caught for illegally slaughtering his pig, Dezsõ. Instead of doing hard time for his "heinous" crime, Pelikán is elevated into an important position, generally reserved for the communist elite. Of course, Pelikán is utterly clueless about his newfound luck, not to mention his new job. Even his new benefactor, the mysterious Comrade Virág, is reluctant to reveal the real reason behind Pelikán's preferential treatment. Thus, begins Pelikán's hilarious adventure deep within the "sophisticated" communist society. One failure after another the incompetent Pelikán is elevated higher and higher on the communist echelon, all the while remaining completely clueless about his promotions. Until one day, when he gets called for to return the "favour" by falsely testifying against his long-time friend in a mock-up show trial.
- DirectorAleksandar PetrovicStarsVelimir 'Bata' ZivojinovicAli RanerSlobodan 'Cica' PerovicThree stories are set at the beginning, middle and the end of WW2. In all three of them the hero of the movie must witness the death of people he likes.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsDavor DujmovicBora TodorovicLjubica AdzovicIn this luminous tale set in the area around Sarajevo and in Italy, Perhan, an engaging young Romany (gypsy) with telekinetic powers, is seduced by the quick-cash world of petty crime, which threatens to destroy him and those he loves.
- DirectorAndrzej JakimowskiStarsDamian UlEwelina WalendziakTomasz SaprykSix-year-old Stefek challenges fate. He believes that setting a chain of events in motion will help him get closer to his father who left his mother. His sister helps him bribe fate with small sacrifices. Tricks and coincidences bring his father back but things go wrong and Stefek tries a very risky trick...
- DirectorJaromil JiresStarsJaroslava SchallerováHelena AnýzováPetr KoprivaSurreal tale in which love, fear, sex, and religion merge into one fantastic world. Based on a classical Czech novel of the same title.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsPetr CepekJan KacerVera GalatíkováOndrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. He brings her a basketful of flowers which she starts to throw in the air and then gives out a shriek, as she discovers several bats in the bottom of the bowl. In a rage, Ondrej's father picks the boy up and hurls him against the wall. As the boy lays on the ground paralyzed the father promises the Holy Virgin to dedicate the boy to her if she spares his life. Ondrej survives and is raised in a strict Knightly Order, where he is mentored by a devout monk, Armin. But one day, an extraordinary event makes him doubt the Order and remember where he came from.
- DirectorJerzy SkolimowskiStarsJerzy SkolimowskiAleksandra ZawieruszankaKrzysztof ChamiecA young boxer Andrzej Leszczyc not only has to face a tough boxing opponent but needs to make some serious personal and professional choices.
- DirectorZivojin PavlovicStarsDragan NikolicRuzica SokicNeda SpasojevicThe story about Jimmy the Dingy, a young vagabond who works as a seasonal worker. Having been sacked from the job, his dreams are to become a singer. As most of the things in the Balkans happen, he is destined to failure.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsMilena DravicIvica VidovicJagoda KaloperAn homage to the work of psychologist Wilhelm Reich, matched with a story about a Yugoslavian girl's affair with a Russian skater. Sexual repression, social systems and the orgone theory are explored.