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Gates of Europe ( Wrota Europy)
Poland (1999)
About the film
"Gates of Europe," the title, is a metaphor for the timeless,
historically difficult plight of the Poles, who sit athwart the road
that every eastern conqueror must take if they wish to make themselves
masters of Europe. Like Andrzej Wajda's newest film "Pan
Tadeusz," "Gates of Europe" is poetic, visually striking,
and set in a turbulent Polish-governed territory that is dangerously
attractive to invaders. But in this case the time is 1918, the invaders
are Bolsheviks, and the whole cast is barely out of their teens. Three
young, rather naive Polish women, all of them close friends, choose to
become nurses at the war front. Rapid, chaotic shifts in the fortunes of
battle leave their hellish field hospital at the mercy of the enemy.
Each one of the women deals with the situation her own way, with
defiance, horror, or resignation, and has to live with her choice.
Director's filmography
Jerzy Wojcik is a camera operator and film director. He graduated from
Film School in Lodz (1955). One of the finest camera operators
of "Polish Film School" and an important contributor to its
artistic success. Lecturer on cinematography in Silesian University in
Katowice (1981-82) and in State Academy of Film, Television and
Theatre in Lodz (since 1982). Full professor of film art. Most
important films : Eroica (1958, dir. Andrzej Munk),
Ashes and Diamonds (1958, dir. Andrzej Wajda), Cross
of Valour (1959, dir. Kazimierz Kutz), Nobody is
Calling (1960, dir. K. Kutz), Past Tense (1961,
dir. Leonard Buczkowski), Mother Joan of the Angels (dir.
Jerzy Kawalerowicz), Samson (dir. Andrzej Wajda),
The Old Guy (1962, dir. Janusz Nasfeter), Decent
Sins (dir. Mieczyslaw Waokowski), Echo (1964,
dir. Stanislaw Rozewicz), To Live Once More (1965, dir.
Janusz Morgenstern), Pharaoh (1966, dir. J.
Kawalerowicz), And Then the Silence Will Come (dir.
Janusz Morgenstern), Westerplatte (1967, dir. S.
Rozewicz), Uzrok smrti ne pominati (1968, dir. Jovan
ivanovia), Face to Face (dir. Krzysztof Zanussi),
The Crows (dir. Lubioa Kozomara), Devojka iz
kosmaja (1969, Dragovan Jovanovia), Bloody Tale
(1970, dir. Tori Jankovia), The Flood (1973, dir.
Jerzy Hoffman), The Leaves have Fallen Off The Trees
(1975, dir. S. Rozewicz, awarded for best cinematography at PFF in
Gdansk 75), Passion (1978, dir. S. Rozewicz),
Elegy (1979, dir. Pawel Komorowski), The Lynx
(1980, dir. S. Rozewicz), Mrs. Latter's Pension
(1981, dir. S. Rozewicz), A Woman In a Hat (1983,
dir. S. Rozewicz), The Devil (1985, dir. S.
Rozewicz), An Angel In the Wardrobe (1987, dir. S.
Rozewicz). Director's filmography: Joan of Arc (1976,
TV); The Report (1977, TV), Medea (1978,
TV), The Complaint (1991, also screenplay).Gates
of Europe is the winner for Director of Photography, and for Costume
Design at the Gdynia Film Festival 1999.
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90 min., color, 35 mm
Polish with English subtitles
Director: Jerzy Wojcik
Screenplay: Jerzy Wojcik, Andrzej Mularczyk, based on the
story by Melchior Wankowicz "Szpital w Cichiniczach"
Dir. of photography: Witold Sobocinski
Music: Zygmunt Konieczny
Editor: Milenia Fiedler
Producer: Henryk Romanowski
Production: Filmcontract Ltd.
Cast: Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Kinga Pries, Agnieszka Sitek,
Andriej Jegorow
Contact: Filmcontract Ltd.
ul. Chelmska 21
00724 Warsaw, Poland
vox: 48.22.840.2278
fax: 48.22.841.6591
fax: 7.095.299.38.80
THE HOLLOWAY
FILE
Database of Russian and Ex-Soviet Union directors
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