Janusz Morgenstern
Film, theatre and television director, screenwriter, producer and educator. He was born on November 16, 1922, in Mikulińce near Ternopil, died on September 6, 2011, in Warsaw. A graduate of the Directing Department of the State Film School in Łódź (1954, diploma in 1969). In 1954, he was an assistant on the set of Wanda Jakubowska’s Opowieść atlantycka/Atlantic Tale, subsequently working with Andrzej Wajda on Kanał/Canal (1956) and Jerzy Kawalerowicz on the set of Prawdziwym końcu wielkiej wojny/The Real End of the Great War (1957). He worked with Wajda again as assistant director on the set of Popiół i diament/Ashes and Diamonds (1958) and Lotna (1959). It was Morgenstern who suggested casting Zbigniew Cybulski in the lead role and came up with one of the most important scenes of the film – lighting alcohol in shot glasses.
He made his debut as an independent director with the film Do widzenia, do jutra…/Goodbye, till tomorrow ... (1960, awards in Melbourne and Stratford), a subtle story about the summer love affair between a Polish student and daughter of a foreign diplomat, set in the milieu of the famous Gdańsk Bim-Bom theatre. Having completed two comedies of morals - Jutro premiera/Premiere Is Tomorrow (1962) based on the play by Jerzy Jurandot and Dwa żebra Adama/Two Ribs of Adam (1963), inspired by a short story by Józef Hen, he directed a film adaptation of a book of Roman Bratny Życie raz jeszcze/Life Once Again (1964), set in the early post-war years, a dramatic story of three friends – an ardent communist, a Polish RAF pilot, and a youth activist. The theme of painful settlement with the “period of errors and distortions” put the film “on the shelf” for more than twenty years. His next film, Potem nastąpi cisza/Then Silence Will Fall (1965), based on Zbigniew Safjan’s prose, showed the political conflicts of 1944 – the tragic consequences of the mistrust between former Home Army soldiers and members of the communist People's Guard, fighting in the new Polish army.
In 1967-1968, Morgenstern made Stawka większa niż życie/More Than Life at Stake (he directed 9 episodes and Andrzej Konic – the other 9), the most popular series in the history of Polish television (it was broadcast in the Soviet Union and other communist states, as well as in some Western countries, such as Sweden, and even in South America). Interesting scripts, perfect execution and the great cast of his subsequent TV series – Kolumbowie/Columbuses (1970 Golden Screen), SOS (1974), Polskie drogi/Polish Roads (1976, Golden Screen) – won him great popularity and critical recognition.
In 1967 he made Jowita (awards at San Sebastian), a successful film adaptation of Disneyland, a popular novel by Stanisław Dygat; on the set of this movie two idols of that generation met: Daniel Olbrychski playing an athlete and Zbigniew Cybulski as his coach (it was his last role). Five years later, he directed Trzeba zabić tę miłość/This Love Must Be Killed (1972), written by Janusz Głowacki, in which he successfully portrays a young couple’s rather clumsy entrance into adult life. He returned to contemporary themes in an adaptation of an American novel by John Wayne Lesser Heaven (1980, awards in Poitiers), the story of a man hunted by the surrounding reality, and in Żółty szalik/Yellow Scarf (2000), the Christmas episode of the television series Święta polskie/Polish Holidays based on Jerzy Pilch’s prose, and Mniejsze zło/Lesser Evil (2009), an adaptation of Janusz Anderman’s novel Cały czas/The Whole Time.
Janusz Morgenstern was the head of the "Perspectywa” Film Studio, producer of many great films, including Korczak (1990) by Andrzej Wajda, Komornik/ Debt Collector (2005) by Feliks Falk, and Róża (2011) by Wojciech Smarzowski.
He received the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1997), the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2005), the Eagle Award for Lifetime Achievement (2008), Platinum Lions for Lifetime Achievement (2010) and many other prestigious awards.
Jerzy Armata
