Prawo i pięść

Prawo i pięść
Prawo i pięść
Directed by	Jerzy Hoffman; Edward Skórzewski;
Written by	Józef Hen
Screenplay by	Józef Hen
Based on	Prawo i pięść; by Józef Hen
Starring	Gustaw Holoubek
Cinematography	Jerzy Lipman
Edited by	Ludmila Godziaszwili
Music by	Krzysztof Komeda
Production; company	Zespół Filmowy "Kamera"
Distributed by	Centrala Wynajmu Filmów
Release date	14 September 1964 (Poland);
Country	Poland
Languages	Polish, German

Prawo i pięść ("The Law and the Fist") is a 1964 Polish post-war Eastern^[1] drama film directed by Jerzy Hoffman and Edward Skórzewski. Based on a 1964 novel of the same name (originally published as Toast) by Józef Hen, the film achieved cult status in the history of Polish cinema.^[2]

Synopsis

Set in 1945, immediately after the end of World War II, it tells the story of Andrzej Kenig, a former fighter of the Polish resistance and survivor of a German concentration camp. He is sent with a small group of men as government representatives to the fictional town of Siwowo/Graustadt in the so-called Recovered Territories, the new western territories of Poland. Their task is to secure the property left there by the retreating Germans. The small town is mostly abandoned and the only remaining inhabitants are four women and a drunken waiter at the hotel. Upon reaching the town, Kenig discovers that the other members of the government delegation are not who they claim to be, and that their only task is to loot as much of the property as they can for themselves. Kenig decides to fight against the gang of bandits alone, which leads to a shootout on the rooftops and in the streets of the deserted town.

Background

The motif of a lone hero fighting against a group of villains resulted in the film being described as a "Polish western".

The film is also remembered for its original score, written by Krzysztof Komeda, and especially the popular song Nim wstanie dzień ("before the day breaks"), with music by Komeda, lyrics by Agnieszka Osiecka, and performed by Edmund Fetting.

Cast

Gustaw Holoubek as Andrzej Kenig
Zofia Mrozowska as Anna
Hanna Skarzanka as Barbara Dubikowska
Wiesław Gołas as Antoni Smólka
Zdzisław Maklakiewicz as Czesiek Wróbel
Ryszard Pietruski as Wijas
Jerzy Przybylski as Doctor Mielecki
Wiesława Kwaśniewska as Zoska
Ewa Wiśniewska as Janka
Zbigniew Dobrzynski as Rudlowski
Józef Nowak as Lieutenant Wrzesinski
Adam Perzyk as Maitre d'hotel Schaffer

References

^ Żurawiecki, Bartosz (2020). "Eastern". Kino. 55 (634): 73–74.
^ Siekierka, Michał (2015). "Problemy dziedzictwa narodowego na "Ziemiach Odzyskanych" na przykładzie Dolnego Śląska". Pisma Humanistyczne (in Polish) (XIII): 155–181. ISSN 1506-9567.

External links

Prawo i pięść at IMDb

[1] Żurawiecki, Bartosz (2020). "Eastern". Kino. 55 (634): 73–74.

[2] Siekierka, Michał (2015). "Problemy dziedzictwa narodowego na "Ziemiach Odzyskanych" na przykładzie Dolnego Śląska". Pisma Humanistyczne (in Polish) (XIII): 155–181. ISSN 1506-9567.

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