Komorowska, Maja

(1937-)

   Distinguished theatrical and film actress. After graduating from the Puppet Department of the Kraków State Acting School (PWST), Komorowska became a member of the Jerzy Grotowski's theater between 1961 and 1968. Her screen debut in 1970 in Krzysztof Zanussi's short film Mountains at Dusk was followed by the leading roles in Zanussi's two films produced in 1971, the feature film Family Life and the television film Next Door. Her long-term collaboration with Zanussi resulted in several great films and memorable screen performances. In Balance Sheet (1975), for which she was awarded at the Festival of Polish Films, Komorowska played a woman involved in an extramarital affair. Her other memorable leading roles in Zanussi's films include the Polish war widow Emilia in Year of the Quiet Sun (1985) and a proud Catholic woman who outsmarts the Communist system in In Full Gallop (1996), for which she received several acting awards, including one at the Festival of Polish Films. Although Komorowska's film career is often linked exclusively with Zanussi's cinema (she appeared in fifteen of his films), her other roles include those in films directed by Edward Żebrowski (Deliverance, 1972), Andrzej Wajda (The Wedding, 1973, The Maids of Wilko, 1979), and Krzysztof Kieślowski (Decalogue 1, 1988). She also appeared in some Hungarian productions, for example in Istvan Szabo's Budapest Tales (1976).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof