Kavalerovich, Jerzy

Jerzy Kavalerovich was born on January 19, 1922 in the small town of Gvozdets (now the Kolomyi district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine ) in an Armenian family (paternal) ^{[6] [7]} . While studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (diploma in 1948 ) he graduated from film courses ( 1946 ). He was an assistant director on the set of the films “Forbidden Songs” ( 1947 , directed by Leonard Buchkovsky ) and “ The Last Stage ” ( 1948 , directed by Wanda Yakubovska ). In 1956 - 1968 - the organizer, and from 1972 - the artistic director of the creative film association "Kadr" , where many famous works of Polish cinema were shot - from Wajda's " Ashes and Diamond " to Makhulsky’s painting. Member of the PUWP ( 1954 - 1990 ). One of the founders and first chairman of the Union of Polish Filmmakers ( 1968 - 1978 ). In 1998, Kavalerovich was awarded the title of doctor honoris causa of the Paris Sorbonne .

In art cinema he made his debut in 1951 with the film "Community" (together with K. Sumersky). In the following films of the director: “Cellulose”, “Under the Phrygian Star” ( 1954 , IFF Prize in Karlovy Vary ) and especially in the film “Shadow” ( 1956 ), there is a noticeable desire to depart from the canons of socialist realism . He was one of the spokesmen for the ideas of the informal artistic and social direction of the 1950s - 1960s in the national cinema of Poland, the so-called Polish School of Cinema .

Masterpieces

The most significant paintings by Kavalerovich are “The Train” (in the Soviet box office “ Mysterious Passenger ”, 1959 , IFF prize in Venice ; IFF prize in London); “ Mother of John from the Angels ” ( 1961 ) and “ Pharaoh ” ( 1965 , based on the novel by B. Prus ). In all three films, the outstanding Polish actress Lucina Vinnitsa starred (in the "Pharaoh" she got a small role).

After the Pharaoh

After the spectacular production of “Pharaoh”, which won great success with the Soviet audience, Kavalerovich’s films for a long time were not purchased for rental in the USSR.

Neither the psychological psychological picture “The Game”, nor the thorough historical reconstruction “Death of the President” (about the short reign and the tragic death of the first President of Poland Gabriel Narutovich ), nor the tragic saga about the Galician Hasidim “Austeria” shot by the Cossacks at the beginning of the First World War, in the USSR have not seen. The same applies to the film "Prisoner of Europe" about the last years of Napoleon's life. The last two tapes of the director, filmed already in the post-Soviet era, “For What?” (According to the novel by Leo Tolstoy ) and “Kamo Gryadeshi” (based on the novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz ), were shown in Russia, but there was no question of repeating the success of “Pharaoh”.

• 1952 - Community / Gromada
• 1953 - Cellulose / Celuloza
• 1954 - Under the Phrygian Star / Pod gwiazdą frygijską
• 1956 - Shadow / Cień
• 1957 - The Real End of the Great War / Prawdziwy koniec wielkiej wojny
• 1959 - The Mysterious Passenger / Pociąg
• 1961 - Mother of John from the Angels / Matka Joanna od aniolów
  Special Jury Prize at the Cannes IFF
• 1966 - Faraon / Faraon , based on the novel by Boleslav Prus
• 1968 - Game / Gra
• 1971 - Magdalena / Maddalena
• 1978 - Death of the President / Śmierć prezydenta
  Silver Bear Prize for outstanding contribution to art at the IFF in Berlin
• 1980 - Meeting in the Atlantic / Spotkanie na Atlantyku
• 1983 - Austeria
  Golden Lion Prize at the Gdansk National Film Festival
• 1989 - Prisoner of Europe / Jeniec Europy
• 1991 - Children of Bronstein / Bronsteins Kinder
• 1996 - For what? / Za co?
• 2001 - Camo Gryadshi / Quo vadis?

• Obituary
• Jerzy Kavalerovich: “Yes, my ancestors were Armenians” (inaccessible link)
• Commentary filmography
• Sobolev R. Jerzy Kavalerovich, Films, style, method. - M .: Art. - 1965.