A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.
During the Napoleonic wars, a Spanish officer and an opposing officer find a book written by the former's grandfather.
An avant-garde political satire that takes place in a mythical country in South America. The dictator has been replaced by a look-alike revolutionary, and the dictator's wife has been replaced by a robot.
A young doctor is tired of being sought by women. One night he meets a young girl who all but forces herself into his room where they talk of morals and love. But he loses her when he goes out to see some friends and then rushes madly around the city after her.
The Italian soldier Giuseppe Santucci, on his way home from the Russian front has his machine gun stolen in Warsaw. Afraid of consequences, he stays in Warsaw and occupies a flat of the Polish girl Maria, whom he suspects of stealing weapon. Maria indeed is an active member of the Polish resistance, contrary to her brother, Staszek, a painter, who only wants a calm living. In a course of events Giuseppe falls in love and, along with Staszek, becomes a hero of the Polish resistance.
Diver Antoni Barnat is falsely accused of causing an accident underwater that almost led to his fellow diver's death. Interestingly enough, they are both in love with the same girl, Teresa.
Young Małgorzata leads a very boring life as a cashier. One day a robber riddles her bank car with bullets, kills the driver and two security guards and takes the money. The police finds out that the stolen banknotes are being spent at a fashionable spa resort. The only way to find the criminal is to favor Małgorzata with a seaside holiday in the company of a handsome Captain as her brother.
An elderly man returns to Poland to find his long-lost son, missing since World War II. In his quest the man is forced to contemplate the elusive and coded nature of truth itself.
Five short stories. (1) “Czas przybliża, czas oddala” – Edward recalls his unfulfilled love for Anna and, years later, writes to her sister Zofia, mistaking her for Anna. (2) “Krąg istnienia” – A girl falls for Wacek at an ice rink; pressured by family, she marries a soap manufacturer. (3) “Paryż 1945” – A Polish refugee soldier and an American woman share a fleeting wartime bond before she leaves at dawn. (4) “Stary profesor” – Two men seek an old professor to fulfill a dying prisoner’s last wish; Roger impersonates a former pupil. (5) “Nauczycielka” – Neglected wife Zofia accepts film tests, only to find the director seeks an ordinary woman.
Two friends think that they've discovered a dangerous spy hiding in a mine shaft.
A man sits at a cafe in Paris and watches the world go by.
An actress travels from Warsaw to Paris and during the trip reflects on the last few years of her life. It goes back to the German occupation and her hiding of a fellow actor who has supposedly killed a collaborator.
Dedicated to tragically deceased actor Zbigniew Cybulski, the film creates a subjective biography of its subject by linking together scenes from his movies.
Marek is a promising athlete having his share of affairs with women. One day at masquerade ball he meets a an enigmatic Jowita and becomes obsessed with her, even when he finds seemingly true love in Agnieszka.
A shy Warsaw university student is in love with a girl who pays no attention to him. Change comes after her intimate love letters are read publicly at a party.
A man jumps off a moving train and goes to a small town to face its inhabitants, who seem familiar, but odd.
An actress visits her hometown to attend the funeral of her grandfather. She realizes that the places and people from her past differ from her cherished memories.
Jacek is a handsome, charming young Pole who belongs to a drama company. One day, in the streets of Gdansk, he meets Marguerite, a beautiful, charming French girl. He falls for her but the young lady is whimsical...
Two strangers, Jerzy and Marta, accidentally end up holding tickets for the same sleeping chamber on an overnight train to the Baltic Sea coast. Also on board is Marta's spurned lover, who will not leave her alone. When the police enter the train in search of a murderer on the lam, rumors fly and everything seems to point toward one of the main characters as the culprit.
Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives. A coming-of-age story of survival and shattering loss, A Generation delivers a brutal portrait of the human cost of war.
Three episodes showing the repercussions of war. A soldier is awarded with the Cross of Valor and vacation to home. But instead of his village, he finds only the charred ruins. A stray dog turns out to be the former guard at Auschwitz. A young widow is hailed as the wife of the hero but dreams of something else.
Because of having a one-day plane delay, Konrad has to spend 24 hours wandering around Warsaw, visiting old friends and meeting some new ones.
A group of young Łódź hoodlums spends their time shoplifting, partying and drinking heavily, until they are faced with serious consequences of their reckless behaviour.
Three short segments about love, all set in Warsaw’s Civil Registry Office at the corner of Nowy Świat and Aleje Jerozolimskie, against a vivid backdrop of early 1960s city life.
In the last days of WW2, Polish military looks for the murderer of prosecutor responsible for storing Gestapo files.
A man's surreal search for a woman named Eva on Christmas Eve.
A widowed woman undergoes a true sexual awakening in this provocative drama. The change comes after her husband of 10 years suddenly dies. During their marriage she never felt a thing during sex. Then she meets a lively Pole and begins an affair. Suddenly she finds herself feeling a great deal, and happiness ensues.
Two friends from army meet in a harbour and start to reminisce about their adventures.
Three separate short stories about young athletes who lose their chances of success. Young swimmer - because of unhappy love. Boxer because of a fight with hooligans, for which the judges will disqualify him. But the cyclist must decide for himself what is more important for him: victory or friendship.
After a violent quarrel, Nitka leaves her husband Andrzej. He meets a young girl with whom he is getting closer and closer.
Love at Twenty unites five directors from five different countries to present their different perspectives on what love really is at the age of 20. The episodes are united with the score of Georges Delerue and still photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson.
A young actor preparing for the part of Macbeth recalls his wartime memories connected with his mentor.
Zbigniew Cybulski and Sonja Ziemann play lovers struggling to find happiness and privacy in overcrowded Warsaw. The movie shows an honest picture of life in a war-damaged city, contrasting the characters' difficulties with their dreams of a better life. It was banned in Poland in 1958 and would not be seen anywhere until its European release one year later.
A man is fascinated by a woman in a club. Obsessed with dreams about her, he begins to follow the path of his imagination.
Karwowski, son of a pre-war colonel, is transferred from the West to Poland with the task of assembling a spy and diversion network. The task seems to be easy. However, after landing in Poland, it turns out that nobody wants to cooperate with him. Karwowski's "100% reliable" contacts with potential collaborators turn out to be completely outdated.
A disqualified trainer of water jumpers starts work in the province, where he discovers Majka's talent.
Set in a small Polish town just after the war, the story of an unruly teenager who constantly taunts the old priest. One day the youth has a horrible accident, which the villagers call divine punishment.
Memories about the writer Marek Hłasko.