Falk, Feliks

(1941-)

   Writer-director, playwright, one of the leading figures of the Cinema of Distrust, and member of Andrzej Wajda's studio X. Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts (painting and graphics, 1966) and the Łódź Film School (1974), Falk established himself with Top Dog (Wodzirej, 1978), a film that uses the corrupted world of show business as a metaphor for Communist Poland. This film narrated the story of Lutek Danielak (Jerzy Stuhr), a ruthless dance leader in a provincial town and his climb to power in the world of Polish small-town entertainment. Another film, The Chance (Szansa, 1979), dealt with the conflict between two high school teachers who represented different moral stances. In 1981 Falk made There Was Jazz (Był jazz, released in 1984) about a jazz group, Melomani, performing the forbidden music during the Stalinist period. He continued with Idol (1985), a film loosely referring to writer Marek Hłasko's life, and with the critically well-received The Hero of the Year (Bohater roku, 1987), the sequel to Top Dog, set at the beginning of the 1980s.

   The first years after the end of Communism proved difficult for many filmmakers, including Falk. His two films The End of the Game (Koniec gry, 1991) and Far from Each Other (Daleko od siebie, 1995) were poorly received by critics, who pointed out cliches from the poetics of the Cinema of Distrust. Falk was, however, successful with audiences withA.W.O.L. (Samowolka, 1993), a film that portrayed a dark picture of a formerly taboo topic, the military, and focused on the conflict between new soldiers and the old guards who rule the garrison and drill the newcomers in order to avenge their own earlier humiliation. He won the 2005 Festival of Polish Films with The Debt Collector (Komornik), a satirical drama about forty-eight hours from the life of a ruthless debt collector, convincingly played by Andrzej Chyra.

   Other films: Accommodation (Nocleg, 1973), In the Middle of the Summer (Wśrodku lata, 1975), Nearby (Obok, 1979), The Uninvited Guest (Nieproszony gość, 1986), Capital, or How to Become Rich in Poland (Kapitał, czyli jak zrobić pieniądze w Polsce, 1989), The Summer of Love (Lato miłości, 1994), Faces and Masks (Twarze i maski, 2000).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof