After conducting a vote for “the book of the last 25 years” (won by Olga Tokarczuk’s “Księgi Jakubowe”/ “The Books of Jacob”) “Gazeta Wyborcza” now invites its readers to choose “the film of the last 25 years”. The voting is open until April 28, and the winner will be announced on April 29.
Again, to narrow down the number of participating films to 25, the paper asked prominent film critics and bloggers to nominate the most deserving films.
You will find the list, in chronological order, at the end of this text.
Encouraging readers to vote, the journalist Maja Staniszewska wrote: “Which of the films that premiered during the last 25 years tell the most about us? Which one is important? Which one reached a cult-like status? Or is like a mirror for us? Which one serves or will serve as a testimonial about the times, a testimonial worth showing to the next generations, to facilitate their understanding of who we were in the first quarter of the 21st century?”
Even a cursory look at the list reveals that if there were “the director of the first 25 years of the 21st” century”, such a title would have gone to Wojciech Smarzowski, who has the record number of films (four) on the list.
Born in 1962, Smarzowski is the quintessential Polish director, focused exclusively on Poland, and famous for his keen eye and biting social commentary. As a true “auteur” he continues the tradition of engaged cinema (“cinema of moral concern”) but makes not only thought-provoking but also action-packed and entertaining films. On occasion so dark and brutal that some critics described them as being “carved with an ax”.
Smarzowski with boldness has tackled traumatic events from Polish history (”Wołyń” and “Róża”) as well as held a mirror to contemporary Polish society, showing its insecurities, hypocrisy and self-aggrandizement (”Wesele”/“The Wedding”).
His film “Kler”/“Clergy” which exposes problems within the Catholic Church in Poland, has held the office box record since 2018 for the best opening (close to one million people watched it in one weekend). At the beginning of this month the “Clergy” record was finally surpassed (by only 50 thousand viewers) by the premier of the American made “Minecraft: Film”.
Also on the list, two films by Agnieszka Holland (the Oscar-nominated “W ciemności”/“In Darkness” and “Zielona granica”/”Green Border”), and two by Paweł Pawlikowski (the Oscar- winning “Ida” and the Oscar-nominated “Cold War”/”Zimna Wojna”).
Only two films on the list have WWII as their theme (“Róża” and “W ciemności”). The complexities of Polish-Jewish relations are present in “Ida”, “W ciemności” and in “Demon”, while the effects of Stalinism on individual lives can be seen in “Zimna wojna”, “Ida”, and “Rewers”.
The only film among the nominees exploring older Polish history is “Kos”/”Scarborn” (2023) which very successfully blends genres to tell the fictional story of Tadeusz Kościuszko preparing the uprising against Russia in 1794.
The rest of the nominated films are predominantly contemporary dramas, exploring societal changes of recent decades. Among them, “Bogowie”/”Gods” about the first heart transplant in Poland performed by doctor Religa, and two films about famous artists (“The last Family” about Zdzisław Beksinski and “Jesteś Bogiem”/”You are God“, about the legendary Silesian rappers from the band Paktofonika), and one animated film („Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta”/„Kill It and Leave This Town”).
Be prepared, however, that you might not find your favorite film on the list.
Not a single romantic comedy, a very popular genre not only in Poland, made it to the final 25. The same goes for many movies created by the controversial Patryk Vega (“Pitbull”, “Women of Mafia”); not on the list either.
What are your favorite Polish films of the last 25 years?
Please share the titles and your recommendations with us using comments.
To cast your vote, you need to subscribe to “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
The link to voting is here:
The films:
- „Chłopaki nie płaczą”/”Boys Don’t Cry”, dir. Olaf Lubaszenko, 2000
- „Dzień świra”/”Day of the Wacko”, dir. Marek Koterski, 2002
- „Wesele”/”The Wedding”, dir. Wojciech Smarzowski, 2004
- „Plac Zbawiciela”/”Savior’s Square”, dir. Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze, 2006
- „Rewers”, dir. Borys Lankosz, 2009
- „Wojna polsko-ruska”/”Polish-Russian War”, dir. Xawery Żuławski, 2009
- „Dom zły”/”The Dark House”, dir. Wojciech Smarzowski, 2009
- „W ciemności”/”In Darkness”, dir. Agnieszka Holland, 2011
- „Róża”/”Rose” dir. Wojciech Smarzowski, 2011
- „Jesteś Bogiem”/ „You are God”, dir. Leszek Dawid, 2012
- „Ida”, dir. Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013
- „Bogowie”/”Gods”, dir. Łukasz Palkowski, 2014
- „Body/Ciało”, dir. Małgorzata Szumowska, 2015
- „Demon”, dir. Marcin Wrona, 2015
- „Córki dancingu”/”The Lure”, dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2015
- „Ostatnia rodzina”/”The Last Family”, dir. Jan P. Matuszyński, 2016
- „Wieża. Jasny dzień”/”Tower. A Bright Day”, dir. Jagoda Szelc, 2017
- „Cicha noc”/”Silent Night”, dir. Piotr Domalewski, 2017
- „Zimna wojna”/”Cold War, dir. Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018
- „Kler”/”Clergy”, dir. Wojciech Smarzowski, 2018
- „Boże Ciało”/”Corpus Christi”, dir. Jan Komasa, 2019
- „Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta”/ „Kill It and Leave This Town”, dir. Mariusz Wilczyński, 2019
- „Chleb i sól”/”Bread and Salt”, dir. Damian Kocur, 2022
- „Zielona granica”/ „Green Boarder”, dir. Agnieszka Holland, 2023
- „Kos”/”Scarborn” dir. Paweł Maślona, 2023
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