Colonel Kwiatkowski

 ((PULKOWNIK KWIATKOWSKI (POLISH))

By DEREK ELLEY

An Ikam production for Telewizja Polska, with participation of Agencja Produkcji Filmowej. (International sales: Telewizja Polska, Warsaw.) Directed by Kazimierz Kutz. Screenplay, Jerzy Stefan Stawinski.
 

A wonderfully played light comedy about a Polish army surgeon who pretends to be a political higher-up, "Colonel Kwiatkowski" leaves a throughly satisfying afterglow. Intelligent scripting, nicely honed dialogue and a cast seemingly born for their roles make this a classy, entertaining fest and Eurotube item whose only shortcoming is a telepic look.

Supposedly "based on true events" (per final caption), pic is set in 1945, with the talented, self-assured but decidedly non-Communist Andrzej Kwiatkowski (Marek Kondrat) given three weeks' leave by one of his grateful patients, a colonel in the UB, Poland's security service. Amid the ruins of Warsaw, he bumps into former neighbor Krystyna (Renata Dancewicz), who'd always had a girlish crush on him, and fires are immediately kindled on both sides.

During dinner with her at a swanky hotel, Kwiatkowski spontaneously takes on the mantle of a UB officer to get himself out of a tight corner with some drunken Russian soldiers. When he's later approached by a woman whose son has been imprisoned by the UB, he decides to maintain the charade and try to spring the kid, with the help of Krystyna, army pal Dudek (Zbigniew Zamachowski) and some other adventurers. Flushed with their success, the merry band then sets off around the country, releasing "counterrevolutionaries" and doing good works, all in the name of the feared, hard-line UB.

The script by veteran Jerzy Stefan Stawinski (who penned some of Andrzej Munk and Andrzej Wajda's best early pics) paces itself well across two hours by fully drawing the characters before the main plot kicks in, and employs inventive dialogue as Kwiatkowski becomes ever bolder in his contricks. By showing how Kwiatkowski easily manipulates Party-speak to reach an opposite conclusion, the movie is more a satire on political ideology in general than simply an anti-Communist tract.

Though William Powell look-alike Kondrat, in the title role, dominates the pic with his assured, sophisticated perf, all other characters are vividly drawn , led by popular thesp Zamachowski (from "Three Colors: White") as Kondrat's wily, peasant sidekick, and Dancewicz, as Krystyna, blending easily into the male-dominated cast. Ending is surprisingly moving.

Camera (color), Grzegorz Kedzierski; editor, Cezary Grzesiuk music, Jan Kanty Pawluskiewicz; art direction, Barbara Nowak; costume design, Maria Wilun; sound, Stefan Chomnicki. Reviewed at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic, July 11, 1996. Running time: 123MIN
 

With: Marek Kondrat, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Renata Dancewicz, Adam Ferency, Iwona Bielska.