Kondratiuk, Janusz

(1943-)

   Film director and screenwriter known mostly for his realistic tragicomedies and medium-length television films, made in the spirit of an early Milos Forman. Kondratiuk began his career with How to Gain Money, Women and Fame (Jak zdobyć pieniądze, kobietę i sławę, 1969), a bitter satire on human weaknesses, and Barabasz's Sunday (Niedziela Barabasza, 1971), which tells the story of a soccer goalkeeper who is humiliated in front of his fans and fellow players when, during the match, his loudly complaining wife appears behind him. His next film, Marriageable Girls (Dziewczyny do wzięcia, 1972), is among the most popular television films ever made in Poland. Kondratiuk also made full-length films in the 1990s, including The Voice (Głos, 1992) and The Golden Fleece (Złote runo, 1997). He worked closely with his older brother, Andrzej Kondratiuk, on The Ascended (1973) and appeared in some of his films, including The Four Seasons (1984) and The Spinning Wheel of Time (1995). In recent years, he also made two successful television films: The Night of Santa Claus (Noc świętego Mikołaja, 2000) and Marriageable Guys (Faceci do wzięcia, 2006).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof