The Last Pictures
The key to this portrait of Andrzej Munk, based on remembrances of his friends and colleagues, is the setting of Auschwitz, also the setting of Munk’s final film, The Passenger, during which the crew slept in the camp. Munk’s sudden car accident death cut that production short, but Andrzej Brzozowski, the director’s assistant at the time, returns with a camera years later and confesses it is the only place he could make this film. The dark camp interiors and the outdoor night shots mingle with scenes from The Passenger, archive photographs, and fragments of affectionate letters by Munk to his wife Joanna. The film tells the director’s story, his work methods, lifestyle, and experiences during production of the The Passenger, an exceptional journey for the entire crew.
Andrzej Munk
Andrzej Munk is a film director and cinematographer responsible for some of the most prominent works of the Polish Film School. Born 16 October 1921 in Cracow, he died tragically on 20 September 1961 in a car crash.
Munk began film studies at the Polish National Film School in Łódź in 1948, with a double major in cinematography and directing, and graduated in 1951. During his studies, he shot many films of his colleagues and made his directorial debut with the documentary Art of the Young (1949). In 1950, while still studying, the Documentary Production Company in Warsaw hired him for a five-year stint as the cinematographer for the Polish Newsreel company, and later as an independent documentary filmmaker.
Shortly after completing that film, Munk joined the newly formed film collective, Zespół Filmowy ‘Kadr.’ Meeting writer Jerzy Stefan Stawiński had a tremendous impact on the director’s work. Stawiński, a prose and incipient screenwriter at the time, went on to co-author the greatest successes of Polish Film School. Munk worked with him on three films, Man on the Tracks (1956), Eroica (1957) and Bad Luck (1957), filmed at Zespół Realizatorów Filmowych ‘Kamera.’ The impact of social trends and totalitarian systems on individuals is a common theme in Andrzej Munk’s feature films. Munk employs aspects of the grotesque, uses paradox, and irony, forms that set him apart from other Polish School filmmakers.
Filmography
1949 Sztuka młodych / The Art of the Young (doc., short)
1950 Zaczęło się w Hiszpanii / It Began in Spain (doc., short)
1951 Kierunek – Nowa Huta! / Destination – Nowa Huta! (doc., short)
1951 Nauka bliżej życia / Science Closer to Life (doc., short)
1952 Bajka / A Fairy Tale (doc., short)
1952 Pamiętniki chłopów / Peasant Diaries (doc., short)
1953 Kolejarskie słowo / A Railwayman’s Word (doc., short)
1954 Gwiazdy muszą płonąć / Stars Must Burn (co-dir., doc., short)
1955 Niedzielny poranek. Scherzo / One Sunday Morning. Scherzo (short)
1958 Spacerek staromiejski / A Walk in the Old City of Warsaw (short)
1955 Błękitny krzyż / The Men of the Blue Cross
1956 Człowiek na torze / Man on the Track
1957 Eroica. Symfonia bohaterska w dwóch częściach / Eroica. Heroic Symphony in Two Parts (part I: Scherzo alla Pollacca, part II: Ostinato lugubre)
1960 Zezowate szczęście / Bad Luck
1963 Pasażerka / Passenger
TV
1957(1972) Eroica. Con bravura (TV)
1959 Wieczory generalskie / Generals’ Evenings (TV Theatre)
1960 Pasażerka / Passenger (TV Theatre)
1961 Arlekinada / Harlequinade (TV Theatre)
Polska Kronika Filmowa (PKF) / Polish National Newsreel (PNN)
1950 Wiec w Baranowiczach, XI 1950 / Mass meeting in Baranowicze, XI 1950 (doc., short)
1950 Dekoracje, efekty nocne, XI 1950 / Decorations, night effects, XI 1950 (doc., short)
1950 Akademia ku czci Józefa Bema, XII 1950 / A ceremony in memory of Józef Bem, XII 1950 (doc., short)
1951 Wystawa Młodzież w walce o pokój, I 1951 / The exhibition Młodzież w walce o pokój (Youth Fighting for Peace), I 1951 (doc., short)
1951 Fabryka żarówek wykonała roczny plan, I 1951 / The light bulb factory has fulfilled the annual plan, I 1951 (doc., short)
1951 Fabryka penicyliny, PKF 1951, nr 3 / The penicillin factory, PNN 1951, no. 3 (doc., short)
1951 Sztuka Zwycięstwo w Teatrze Nowym, II 1951 / The play Zwycięstwo (Victory) in ‘Nowy’ Theatre, II 1951 (doc., short)
1951 Walka z alkoholizmem, PKF 1951, nr 8 / Fighting with alcoholism, PNN 1951, no. 8 (doc., short)
1951 Dom Dziecka im. św. Gertrudy, PKF 1951, nr 10 / St. Gertrude’s orphanage, PNN 1951, no. 10 (doc., short)
1951 Windziarki na Muranowie (dokrętka do materiału Zbigniewa Raplewskiego), PKF 1951, nr 10 / Lift attendants in Muranów (additional shooting for Zbigniew Raplewski’s material), PNN 1951, no. 10 (doc., short)
1951 Mecz piłki nożnej CWKS – Unia, PKF 1951, nr 14 / Football match CWKS – Unia, PNN 1951, no. 14 (co-dir., doc., short)
1951 Zabawa na Mariensztacie, PKF 1951, nr 23 / Party in Mariensztat, PNN 1951, no. 23 (co-dir., doc., short)
1951 Miejski szpital położniczy w Warszawie, PKF 1951, nr 23 / City Maternity Hospital in Warsaw, PNN 1951, no. 23 (doc., short)
1951 Zespół Aleksandrowa, VII 1951 / The Alexandrov’s Band, VII 1951 (doc., short)
1951 Rumuński Zespół Pieśni i Tańca, PKF 1951, nr 37 / Romanian Song and Dance Group, PNN 1951, no. 37 (doc., short)
1956 Komeda i jego zespół, PKF 1956, nr 36 / Komeda and His Band, PNN 1956, no. 36 (doc., short)
1959 Wydanie (anty)jubileuszowe, PKF 1959, nr 52 AB, wydanie specjalne z okazji jubileuszu 15-lecia PKF / The (Anti)celebratory Version, PNN 1959, no. 52 AB, special edition on the 15th anniversary of PNN (doc., short)
Andrzej Brzozowski
Born in 1932, died in 2005. He graduated from the Łódź Film School; he was a screenwriter and director of documentary, television, and educational films. After graduating, he worked with Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Andrzej Wajda, and Anrzej Munk in feature film productions. His short films To jest jajko (This Is an Egg) and Archeologia (Archaeology) are some of the most decorated Polish documentaries. He began lecturing at the Łódź Film School in 1972, produced scores of films, and co-wrote many scripts, e.g. Krajobraz po bitwie (Landscape After a Battle) by Andrzej Wajda.
Selected filmography
1957 Rozmowy jazzowe (doc., short)
1965 To jest jajko (doc., short)
1967 Archeologia (doc., short)
1971 Ogień (doc.)
1975 Pobocza (doc., short)
1991 Głowa (doc.)
1995 Życiorys z celi śmierci (doc.)
2000 Ostatnie zdjęcia. Brulion / The Last Pictures (doc.)