Polish Movie Springtime
Theresa Connelly’s first feature, described as an update on Hollywood’s working-class dramas of the 30s and 40s, explores the ties among a Polish-American family in Connelly’s native Detroit. Lena Olin is the strong-willed mother, Gabriel Byrne the quiet father, and Claire Danes their rebellious daughter, who takes up with a police officer. Connelly will attend the screening; the film is scheduled for a commercial release this summer. (7:00)
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Marek Piwowski directed this 1968 satire about a stowaway on a luxury cruise who’s mistakenly appointed the ship’s social director and organizes all its activities according to the highest principles of Marxism. The original release ran 90 minutes, but 22 minutes were cut in 1970 and subsequently lost. With Stanislaw Tym, Jolanta Lothe, Wanda Stanislawska-Lothe, Zygmunt Maklakiewicz, and Jan Himilsbach. (4:00)
TUESDAY, MARCH 17
A Warsaw safecracker (Jan Machulski) comes out of retirement to mastermind a bank heist and avenge himself on the banker who set him up (Leonard Pietraszak). Juliusz Machulski, who will attend the screening, directed this 1981 suspense film set in the 1930s; with Witold Pyrkosz and Jacek Chmielnik. (7:00)
Gnomes driven out of their forest home become squatters in the basement of an old library. Juliusz Machulski, who will attend the screening, directed this modern-day fairy tale released in 1989; with Jacek Chmielnik, Jerzy Stuhr, and Katarzyna Figura. (8:00)
