POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Film director, screenwriter and actor. He was born on December 5, 1929 in Warsaw. In 1954, he completed his courses at the Department of Directing of the State Film School in Łódź, but he did not receive a full university degree until twenty years later. He started as an assistant director on the set of Hours of Hope/Godziny nadziei (1955) by Jan Rybkowski and Charcoal Sketches/Szkice węglem (1956) by Antoni Bohdziewicz. He also worked as an assistant director at The Warsaw Mermaid/Warszawska syrena (1956) by Tadeusz Makarczyński and Nicodemus Dyzma/Nikodem Dyzma (1956) by Rybkowski. He also had several cameos. He made his debut in 1960 with a light comedy Husband of His Wife/Mąż swojej żony, made in the pre-war cinema style. His next films, Wife for the Australian/Żona dla Australijczyka (1963) and Marriage of Convenience/Małżeństwo z rozsądku (1966) were similar in tone. In turn, Adventure with a Song/ Przygoda z piosenką (1968) which he wrote and directed were based on classic Hollywood musicals.

Bareja’s films from the 1960s were funny, somewhat stereotypical farces, full of borrowings and elements of a revue show. His other area of interest was the crime story. Shortly after his feature debut, he made The Touch of the Night/Dotknięcie nocy (1961) – a smoothly thriller based on a true story and written by Aleksander Scibor-Rilski. In 1965, he directed the TV series Captain Owl Investigates/ Kapitan sowa na tropie with Wiesław Gołas in the title role.

The 1970s and 1980s brought about a fundamental change: Bareja’s films from this period are mocking in tone, using satire and oversimplification to showcase the various absurdities in the everyday life of Poles. They include Man – Woman Wanted/Poszukiwany, Poszukiwana (1973), A Jungle Book of Regulations/Nie ma róży bez ognia (1974), Brunet Will Call/Brunet wieczorową porą (1976) and What Will You Do When You Catch Me?/ Co mi zrobisz, jak mnie złapiesz? (1978), all based on scripts he wrote himself or in collaboration with the satirists Jacek Fedorowicz or Stanisław Tym. Bareja had cameos in all his films. In 1980, he made his most acclaimed film, Bear/Miś, recognised today as a cult classic. In the 1980s he also directed two popular series: Alternatywy 4 (1983) and Co-drivers/Zmiennicy (1986).

He died on June 16, 1987 in Essen (West Germany); he is buried in Warsaw. Posthumously, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2006) and a special Golden Duck Award in the category of comedy director of the century (2008).

Beata Pieńkowska