About

Known credits:
37
Birthday:
1921-02-07
Place of birth:
N/A
Website:
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Stanisław Lenartowicz

Overview

Stanislaw Lenartowicz was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He was born on February 7, 1921, in Dzianowo in the Vilnius region. During the war, he was a soldier of the Home Army, then a prisoner of the Kaluga camp in Russia. Following repatriation in 1946, he settled in Wrocław. He graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the University of Wroclaw and the Directing Department of Łódź Film School (1953), where his supervisor was Antoni Bohdziewicz.

He began directing films for the Educational Film Studio in Łódź, with which he cooperated in 1952-1955. It was there that he made Miniatury Kodeksu Behema/The Behem Code Miniatures (1953), awarded the Special Award at the Oberhausen festival five years later. Later, he adapted the novel by Stanisław Dygat as part of the film Trzy starty/Three Takeoffs (1955).

His film debut, Zimowy zmierzch/Winter Dusk (1956), sparked violent disputes and polemics among Polish film critics; on the backdrop of the socialist realist poetics of that era, the film stood out with its innovative narrative and visual layers rich in meanings. His subsequent films, Pigułki dla Aurelii/Pills for Aurelia (1958) and Giuseppe w Warszawie/Giuseppe in Warsaw (1964), addressed the subject of war, but presented it in a way stripped of heroism. He also depicted the forgotten world of the Polish provinces, focusing on observations of detail and mentality (Czerwone i złote/Red and Gold, 1969, based on writings by Stanisław Grochowiak, an award at the Valladolid festival). He addressed the maritime theme twice: in Cała naprzód/Full Steam Ahead (1966) and Martwa fala/ Still Wave (1970). He also attempted to adapt the prose of Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz in Pamiętnik pani Hanki/The Diary of Mrs. Hanka (1963). On the set, he gladly collaborated with Zbigniew Cybulski.

Lenartowicz’s interest in Russian culture is reflected in the television series he directed which are adaptations of classic Russian novels. They were made at the request of Canadian television in the late 1960s. These include the movies Brawler (based on Turgenev), Phantom (Tolstoy), Postmaster (Pushkin) completed in 1967. In 1979, he directed Strachy/Spooks, a series based on the prose of Maria Ukniewska, about the life of Warsaw actors. After the introduction of martial law, he retired from the profession.

In 1959, he received the Award of the City of Wroclaw; a year later, he was also awarded the Gold Cross of Merit. At the end of his life, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. He died on October 28, 2010, in Wrocław.

by Beata Pieńkowska

From Polish Film Academy - History of Polish Cinema

http://akademiapolskiegofilmu.pl/en/historia-polskiego-filmu/directors/stanislaw-lenartowicz/65

Known for

Directing
1987 Academy Leader Variations Directing Director 59
Average
1985 KTO TY JESTEŚ? Directing Director N/A
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1985 Szkoda twoich łez Directing Director N/A
N/A
1977 Portrait Directing Director 59
Average
1976 Żelazna obroża Directing Director N/A
N/A
1975 I killed Directing Director 58
Average
1975 Breakfast on the Grass Directing Director N/A
N/A
1973 Possession Directing Director 58
Average
1971 Nos Directing Director 58
Average
1971 Aktorka Directing Director 58
Average
1971 Martwa fala Directing Director N/A
N/A
1969 The Red and the Gold Directing Director 58
Average
1968 Poczmistrz Directing Director 59
Average
1968 Fatalista Directing Director N/A
N/A
1968 The Vampire Directing Director 58
Average
1967 Zabijaka Directing Director N/A
N/A
1967 Full Ahead Directing Director 59
Average
1964 Giuseppe in Warsaw Directing Director 59
Average
1963 Mrs. Hanka's Diary Directing Director 59
Average
1961 Nafta Directing Director 58
Average
1960 Zobaczymy się w niedzielę Directing Director 58
Average
1958 Pills for Aurelia Directing Director 59
Average
1957 Spotkania Directing Director 58
Average
1957 Winter Twilight Directing Director 59
Average
1955 Trzy starty Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
1985 Szkoda twoich łez Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1976 Żelazna obroża Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1975 Breakfast on the Grass Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1971 Nos Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1971 Aktorka Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1968 The Vampire Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1967 Full Ahead Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1963 Mrs. Hanka's Diary Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1961 Nafta Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1960 Zobaczymy się w niedzielę Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1957 Spotkania Writing Writer 58
Average
1955 Trzy starty Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A