Krauze, Antoni

(1940-)

   Film director and scriptwriter Krauze began his career with television films such as Monidło (1969, the title refers to a portrait painted from a photograph), based on Jan Himilsbach's short story, and Shelter (Meta, 1971, released in 1981), an adaptation of Marek Nowakowski's fiction. His first big-screen film, God's Finger (Palec bozy, 1972), with Marian Opania in the role of a sensitive, small-town man who wants to become an actor, was very well received by critics. Krauze followed it with a crime film, Fear (Strach, 1975). In 1983 he directed Weather Forecast (Prognoza pogody, 1983), an unusual "seniors road movie" with some clear references to the atmosphere preceding the introduction of martial law. After a psychological study, The Girl from the Excelsior Hotel (Dziewczynka z hotelu Excelsior, 1988), Krauze directed a spy film, The Aquarium (Akwarium, 1996, also a television series in 1995), a Polish-German-Ukrainian coproduction about the Soviet secret services. He also produced several short films for the Educational Film Studio in Łódź.

   Other films: The Haunted Manor (Zaklęty dwór, TV series, 1976), A Voyage to Arabia (Podróz do Arabii, 1979), An Evening Party (Party przy świecach, TV, 1980), Station (Stacja, 1981).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof