Academy of Polish Cinema: Dogs (1992)

Dogs, 1992, directed by Władysław Pasikowski

Franz (Bogusław Linda), a former officer of the Security Service dissolved in 1990, after verification with his colleagues goes to work in the police. Abandoned by his wife, the daughter of a former deputy minister, he became bitter and grew even more distanced from women and the operation of the state. In the police, attempts to stop a gang of car thieves lead to tragedy, his colleagues die. Franz turns to his former SB colleague for help. Soon it turns out that Olo (Marek Kondrat) most likely works for criminals. Friends stand on opposite sides of the barricade, in addition, this border is crossed by Franz's young lover.

A cult film by Władysław Pasikowski, which fit into the expectations of the Polish audience and made Bogusław Linda, an outstanding actor of the cinema of moral anxiety, an icon of Polish cinema of the period of transformation. He created a new pattern of masculinity, toughness and misogyny, which at that time allowed to revive the humiliation that was part of the experience of Polish men in socialism and on the verge of systemic changes.

Despite the fact that the film did not fit into Polish author's cinema, and at the same time used the genre formula of gangster film, it triumphed at the Festival of Polish Feature Films in Gdynia (1992): Award for directing, Award for male role for Bogusław Linda, Award for supporting female role for Agnieszka Jaskółka, Award for music for Michał Lorenc and for editing for Wanda Zeman and Zbigniew Niciński. Artistic success, importantly, went hand in hand with attendance success. The further fate of the heroes is told by the films Dogs 2. Last Blood (1994) and Dogs 3. In the Name of Rules (2020).

18:00 - lecture by Andrzej Bukowiecki

19:30 - screening of Władysław Pasikowski's film

Screening with english subtitles.