Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1922 - 2007.

Oscar-nominated Polish film director Jerzy Kawalerowicz died aged 85 in the Polish capital Warsaw late Thursday after suffering a hemorrhage, Poland's Association of Cinematographers confirmed Friday. Among the fathers of the 1950's "Polish school" of cinematography, Kawalerowicz directed 17 feature films during his life-time.

The AFP.

The films of Kawalerowicz are uneven; it is as though the filmmaker, after momentary triumphs and outstanding artistic achievements, would lapse into a crisis that prepared him for yet another masterpiece.... Only in a very few directors' works do we find such range, from the realistic film to the profound psychological drama, from the historical epic to the political drama.

Vacláv Merhaut, Film Reference.

See also: Ray Privett interviewed Kawalerowicz for Kinoeye in 2001; acquarello reviews Night Train and Mother Joan of the Angels; and then, of course, there's the Wikipedia entry.

Posted by dwhudson at December 29, 2007 12:49 PM