Polish Cinema on DVD

[djvaso]

9) The Damned Roads (1959), dir. Czesław Petelski


12) Hubal (1973), dir. Bohdan Poręba


14) The Last Ferry (1989), dir. Waldemar Krzystek


Release date: August 19

[L.A.]

Karate Polish Style Blu-ray seems like vanished. Did this ever came out?

[vertovfan]

I ordered it from empik.pl just yesterday. It hasn’t shipped yet, though that’s not surprising considering other items in the order (the second batch of above-mentioned blu-rays) have a release date of August 19.

[L.A.]

Mondo Digital’s review for the Blu-ray of The Devil in Maddalena (1971) directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. Never heard of this before.

[MichaelB]

Mondo Digital’s review for the Blu-ray of The Devil in Maddalena (1971) directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. Never heard of this before.

Perhaps the most extreme example I can think of where a film’s theme tune is infinitely more famous than the film it was composed for.

(Which I see is unsurprisingly acknowledged in the review’s first paragraph!)

Although it’s not really a Polish film, unless you normally slap that label on every Polanski or Borowczyk film regardless of where it was made.

[feihong]

Perhaps the most extreme example I can think of where a film’s theme tune is infinitely more famous than the film it was composed for.
(Which I see is unsurprisingly acknowledged in the review’s first paragraph!)
Although it’s not really a Polish film, unless you normally slap that label on every Polanski or Borowczyk film regardless of where it was made.

I think that was far more common in golden age Hollywood, right? "Green Dolphin Street" the tune is far more famous than the Lana Turner/Van Heflin vehicle, for instance. Not to take away anything from the popularity of Chi Mai and the relative obscurity of The Devil in Maddalena; just to say I think it fits handily into a long tradition.

[swo17]

I don't recognize this tune but apparently it's ubiquitous in the UK

[feihong]

I had a version of the song on a Morriccone CD collection a long time ago. I have heard it in the background in some European movies with live sound.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

"Theme from A Summer Place" is another good example. Also "Yumeji's Theme," though it's not really the theme song (one of the surprising things about watching Yumeji after In the Mood for Love is how much less significant the song is in the film for which it was actually composed—IIRC it's only used once and you could easily miss it with an ill-timed bathroom break).

The theme from The Magnificent Seven is ubiquitous in China, where it's commonly played at wedding banquets and other events with speakers taking the stage, but the movie was never officially released there and is still barely known.

[L.A.]

Wanted to order the Blu-ray of Baza ludzi umarłych. I understood the release date was August 31st(?) but not in stock anywhere. Hopefully not cancelled or anything.

[vertovfan]

Baza ludzi umarłych, Karate po polsku and the other recent releases by Filmoteka Narodowa are in stock at Empik:

Baza ludzi umarłych

Karate po polsku

Released by Filmoteka Narodowa

I placed an order a couple weeks ago that arrived in the US this week.

[MichaelB]

I'll be in Poland in about three weeks (Covid restrictions permitting) and I'll have a look at what's on Empik shelves then.

[Orlac]

I don't recognize this tune but apparently it's ubiquitous in the UK

Indeed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPS4vsm ... stributing

[MichaelB]

...plus a gazillion TV commercials. Or just one repeated endlessly. But we heard it a lot in the 1970s and 80s, and of course it was also invariably included in Morricone CD anthologies.

[Orlac]

Funnily enough, it's one of the few Morricone tunes I've yet to hear in a kung fu movie.

[MichaelB]

The coverage of Jean-Paul Belmondo's funeral has reminded me that in addition to Maddalena in 1971 and The Life and Times of David Lloyd George in 1978, "Chi mai" was recycled yet again for Georges Lautner's Le Professionnel in 1981.

[L.A.]

Mondo Digital’s review for the Blu-ray of The Devil in Maddalena (1971) directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. Never heard of this before.

Beaver.

[L.A.]

46th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia will show another Polish silent on September 23rd called Path of Shame (1929). Hopefully a Blu-ray in the same vein as the three previous silent releases will emerge which are gorgeous.

Path of Shame

dir. Mieczysław Krawicz, Alfred Niemirski

1929, 1 h 37 min

An international group of women traffickers is increasingly active in Poland. At a Warsaw dance school, they tempt young women with the possibility of being cast by an American film studio. What the gang doesn’t know is that among the students, there is a secret police agent.

Inspired by the Polish Committee for Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, the film is an adaptation of Antoni Marczyński’s novel. One of the first Polish interventional and socially engaged propaganda films, it combines an important issue with an action-packed storyline. Some of the scenes were shot in Gdynia.

At the 46th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, Tomasz Chyła Quintet will improvise during the screening of Path of Shame. It will not be a regular concert, but a musical spectacle based on modern experimental music arranged specifically for the Festival.

directed by: Mieczysław Krawicz, Alfred Niemirski

written by: Anatol Stern

director of photography: Albert Wywerka

production design: Józef Galewski

make-up: Konrad Narkiewicz

cast: Maria Malicka, Wanda Zawiszanka, Zofia Batycka, Maria Wrońska, Bogusław Samborski, Lech Owron, Jan Szymański, Seweryna Broniszówna, Władysław Walter, Jerzy Kobusz, Henryk Rzętkowski, Justyna Czartorzyska, Antoni Cwojdziński, Stanisław Sielański, Zygmunt Chmielewski, Leopold Morozowicz

production: Star-Film

production manager: Alfred Niemirski

[MichaelB]

I’m in Gdynia right now, and am seeing it tomorrow evening.

[Ezylox]

Hi there, does anyone know where I can find Piotr Szulkin's remastered movies ? You could watch them for free on Ninateka back in 2017/2018 but it seems like they completely disappeared afterwards.

[djvaso]

Hi there, does anyone know where I can find Piotr Szulkin's remastered movies ? You could watch them for free on Ninateka back in 2017/2018 but it seems like they completely disappeared afterwards.

You have Ga, Ga - Chwala bohaterom (1986) and Femina (1991) at 35mm.online. The registration is free.

[Ezylox]

Hi there, does anyone know where I can find Piotr Szulkin's remastered movies ? You could watch them for free on Ninateka back in 2017/2018 but it seems like they completely disappeared afterwards.

You have Ga, Ga - Chwala bohaterom (1986) and Femina (1991) at 35mm.online. The registration is free.

Thanks a lot.
I also found out you can currently watch Golem and other movies on Zebrafilm.pl if anyone is interested.

[djvaso]

The Rebirth of Poland (1928) / The Banner of Liberty (1935) [Blu-ray]

[MichaelB]

I’m in Gdynia right now, and am seeing it tomorrow evening.

I completely forgot to feed back on this! Terrific presentation (the live music from five multi-instrumentalists was especially effective) of what for the most part was a very engrossing drama, although hampered somewhat by the lack of any English translation in any form - which was unusual for Polish National Film Archive festival presentations, so I hope that that's not setting a precedent. But I'd certainly be interested in a Blu-ray with the same score.

[TMDaines]

Anyone ordered from DVDMax.pl since the Brexit changes? Do they sort all the tax and customs as part of the UPS delivery, or can I expect to get stung?