Passenger (1963)

While being aboard a transatlantic ship, German woman Liza notices someone who looks like Marta, the former inmate at Auschwitz, where Liza used to be the guard.

Directors:

Andrzej Munk, Witold Lesiewicz

Writers:

Andrzej Munk (screenplay), Zofia Posmysz (novel)

Stars:

Aleksandra Slaska, Anna Ciepielewska, Jan Kreczmar

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aleksandra Slaska	...	Liza
Anna Ciepielewska	...	Marta
Jan Kreczmar	...	Walter
Marek Walczewski	...	Tadeusz
Irena Malkiewicz	...	Oberaufseherin Madel
Barbara Horawianka	...	Nurse
Maria Koscialkowska	...	Guard Inga Weniger
Anna Jaraczówna	...	Capo
Leon Pietraszkiewicz	...	Lagerkommandant Grabner
Janusz Bylczynski	...	Capo
Andrzej Krasicki	...	Commission Member
Zdzislaw Szymborski	...	SS-Man
Kazimierz Rudzki	...	Commission Member
Anna Golebiowska	...	Female Prisoner
Krzesislawa Dubielówna

Storyline

The last film of Andrzej Munk, who died in a crash during the filming. A German woman on a ship coming back to Europe notices a face of another woman which brings recollections from the past. She tells her husband that she has been an overseer in Auschwitz during the war, but she has actually saved a woman's life. Her vision is shown and then the actual events.

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Plot Keywords:

still photograph | woman slaps a woman | ship | auschwitz | inmate | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

20 September 1963 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Passenger

Filming Locations:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zespol Filmowy "Kamera"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: La monnaie de l'absolu (1999)

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Soundtracks

Violin Concerto in E Major
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Dream of a Nightmare

In what was to be his final, incomplete film, Andrzej Munk gives an insight into an "island in time", as the narrator calls it. A woman on an ocean cruiser meets what seems to be a person from her own past - a past where she was overseer in the Auschwitz concentration camp, and the other a prisoner. They were bond together by a strange link, which in the view of guard (Liza) was generally build up by some sort of respect and protection, whereas the actual events that follow Liza reminiscences leave no doubt about her participation in the inhumanity and her guild. From the point of view of Marta, the surviver (or is it someone else?), the "relationship" was different. Munks pictures show us two sides of the story in a dream-like atmosphere: Black and white, eerie music, haunting pictures. Though a totally different content, the aesthetic atmosphere recalls 'La Jetee' by Chris Marker, filmed around the same time. In all, a short but intense viewing experience that achieves great emotional impact. Way ahead of it's time.