Studio Munka Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich

Andrzej Munk is recognized today as one of the most outstanding Polish film directors; he was one of the most interesting representatives of the so-called "Polish film school" (more information at www.polskaszkolafilmowa.pl).  

Munk's early youth coincided with the years of German occupation of Poland, and he spent these years forced into hiding because of his Jewish origin. He participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After liberation, he studied in Warsaw - first at the Faculty of Architecture of the Polytechnic School, and then at the Law Faculty of the Warsaw University. Finally, in 1947 he began his studies at the National Film School in Lódź. In 1951 he graduated from there, with a diploma in directing, although initially he studied at the faculty of cinematography. Later on he was also a lecturer at the Łódź Film School in the years 1957-1961.

For five years after graduation Munk worked at the Documentary Film Studio, first as the camera operator at the Polish Film Chronicle and then as a documentary film director.

Feature films  of Andrzej Munk are characterized by a highly original and innovative approach to the topic of Polish heroism and national mythology. In contrast to Andrzej Wajda, Munk presented these issues most important in the post-war reality with the cool detachment typical of documentary filmmakers. His method of presentation was often approaching satire or burlesque, and in “Bad luck” (Zezowate szczęście) he openly used a comedy convention.  

The first feature film by Andrzej Munk was “The Men of the Blue Cross” (original title Błękitny krzyż) released in 1955. The film is based on a story by Andrew Liberak, and  was largely similar to a documentary. The reconstructed scene of rescue by the Tatra Mountain Rescue Service (GOPR) was interpreted, apart from professional actors, also by  real-life participants of the original rescue  of 1945 on which the story was based, when the wounded from the field hospital in Slovakia were carried right across and behind the Nazi posts. 

In 1956 he made, based on his joint script with Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, " The Man on the Tracks" (Człowiek na torze) – when a retired railway conductor dies under the wheels of a train,  a committee is appointed to clarify the circumstances of this incident.  The viewer arrives at the truth through getting to know different versions of events presented from the viewpoints of several people.

Today ranked among the classics and considered the director’s masterpiece,  "Heroism" (Eroica) from 1957, consists of two novels: "Scherzo alla pollacca" with the events taking place during the Warsaw Uprising and "Ostinato lugubre", set in a prisoners-of-war camp.

"Bad Luck" (Zezowate szczęście)  from 1959 covers the timelines from before the war, through the wartime and occupation, up until the 1960s, continuously following the story of Jan Piszczyk. As wrote Aleksander Jackiewicz (In "My movies. Polish Cinema" of 1983),  - "Bad Luck” is not just a tale about an opportunist, but also, perhaps primarily, the story of the country that gave birth to and conditioned such opportunism." –  

In 1961, Munk  began work on his last film "The Passenger" (Pasażerka) for which he wrote the script jointly with Zofia Posmysz-Piasecka, on the basis of  her earlier radio play "The Passenger in Cabin 45" (in 1962 also the novel "The Passenger" was released) . The story is based on the recollections of Lisa, a German woman who was a guardian at the concentration camp,  recollection that she relives when during a transatlantic trip she believes she has seen one of the prisoners -  a Polish woman named Marta. The work on the film, after the tragic death of the director, was finished by Munk’s colleague Witold Lesiewicz. Andrzej Munk died on September 20, 1961, in an automobile accident near Łowicz; he is buried at the Military Cemetery at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

Since 1965, the National Film School in Łódź  presents the Andrzej Munk Film Award to the best debutants.