''Passenger'' ( pl, Pasażerka) is a 1963 Polish feature film directed by

Andrzej Munk Andrzej Munk (16 October 1921 – 20 September 1961) was a Polish film director, screen writer and documentalist. He was one of the most influential artists of the post-Stalinist period in the People's Republic of Poland. His feature films '' Ma ...

. When Munk died in a car crash during production, the unfinished film was assembled for release by directors

Witold Lesiewicz Witold Lesiewicz (9 September 1922 – 23 March 2012) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He directed 24 films between 1949 and 1979. He completed the work on the 1963 film '' Passenger'' after the death of director Andrzej Munk. ...

and Andrzej Brzozowski. ''Passenger'', using the form of a documentary, dramatizes the memories of a fictional SS officer (played by

Aleksandra Śląska Aleksandra Śląska (4 November 1925 – 18 September 1989) was a Polish film actress. She appeared in 18 films between 1948 and 1983. Born in Katowice, Upper Silesia, she left for Warsaw after World War II. She was buried in the Powązki ...

) who had served at the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

during World War II. ''The Passenger'' examines the nature of oppressor and victim within the microcosm of a German extermination camp during the

Jewish Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

Plot

''The Passenger'' begins in 1960, fifteen years after the end of World War II. The setting is a transatlantic voyage aboard a luxury liner en route from South America to Europe. Lisa Kretschmer (Alexandra Śląska), a former concentration camp SS officer, has a chance encounter with a fellow passenger who was one of her inmates at the camp, Marta (Anna Ciepielewska). Aboard the vessel, the roles of Liza and Marta are more of less reversed. Marta is in a position to expose the former Nazi as a war criminal, and if not to the authorities, at least to Liza’s husband, who is ignorant of her past. The meeting unleashes a cascade of memories for Liza, in which she struggles to revisit the events at the extermination center, and the nature of her behavior towards Marta. In a series of flashbacks, Liza’s internal narrative, which serves to rationalize her role, clashes with memories of the systematic murder of men, woman and children that characterized the Holocaust. The complexities of the relationship between perpetrator and victim reveals the degradation of Marta, who survived by accommodating herself to her oppressors.

Production history

Munk, at the age of 39, died in a car accident while the film was in production and the completed scenes were combined from parts of original footage and screenplay sketches by

. The methods used are explained in a voice-over during the course of the film, so its unfinished state itself takes a documentary form. Parts of the film were shot at Auschwitz. The source for ''The Passenger'' was a radio drama titled ''Passenger from Cabin Number 45'', written by

Zofia Posmysz-Piasecka Zofia Posmysz-Piasecka (; 23 August 1923 – 8 August 2022) was a Polish journalist, novelist, and author. She was a resistance fighter in World War II and survived imprisonment at the Auschwitz and Ravensbrück concentration camps. Her ...

in 1959.Niemitz, 2014: "Inspired by a radio drama, ''The Passenger from Cabin Number 45'', by

, an Auschwitz survivor..." Posmysz's play was later reworked into a novel. It was published in 1962 as '' Pasażerka''. When the work was made into an opera in 1968, American audiences were first alerted to Munk's impressive cinematic ''oeuvre''.

Cast

- Lisa Kretschmer, former SS '' Aufseherin'' at Auschwitz . *

Anna Ciepielewska Anna Ciepielewska (7 January 1936 – 20 May 2006) was a Polish actress. She appeared in more than forty films from 1955 to 2004. Filmography References External links * 1936 births 2006 deaths Polish film actresses {{Poland ...

- Marta, the Polish inmate *

Janusz Bylczynski Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter *Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician *Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic priest ...

- Capo *

Krystyna Dubielowna Krystyna is a Polish variant of name Christine or Christina. It may refer to: People with the name *Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (born 1936), Polish naval engineer and sailor *Krystyna Janda (born 1952), Polish actress *Krystyna Kuperberg (bor ...

* Anna Golebiowska -

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

Prisoner *

Barbara Horawianka Barbara Horawianka (born 14 May 1930) is a Polish film actress. She has appeared in more than 35 films and television shows since 1955. Selected filmography * ''Tonight a City Will Die'' (1961) * ''Passenger A passenger (also abbreviate ...

- Nurse *

Anna Jaraczówna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

- Capo *

Maria Koscialkowska Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

- Guard, Inga Weniger *

Andrzej Krasicki Andrzej Krasicki (31 October 1918, Tarnów, Poland – 15 January 1995, Warsaw) was a Polish film and theatre actor and theatre director. Biography In 1937, he graduated from Staszic high school in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), offici ...

- Commission Member *

Jan Kreczmar Jan Kreczmar (6 May 1908 in Warsaw - 29 August 1972 in Warsaw) was a Polish theatre and film actor.Jan Kreczmar
at ...

- Walter Kretschmer, Lisa's husband *

Irena Malkiewicz Irena Malkiewicz (15 September 1911 – 23 January 2004) was a Polish actress. She appeared in more than 30 films and television shows between 1936 and 1988. Selected filmography * ''Serce matki'' (1939) * ''Lotna'' (1959) * ''Passenger ...

- ''

Oberaufseherin Aufseherin was the position title for a female guard in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Of the 50,000 guards who served in Nazi concentration camps, about 5,000 were women. In 1942, the first female guards arrived at Auschwitz a ...

'' Madel *

Izabella Olszewska Izabella is a Polish feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Izabella Alvarez (born 2004), American actress *Izabella Antonowicz (born 1942), Polish sprint canoer *Izabella Elżbieta Czartoryska (1832–1899), Polish noble la ...

Leon Pietraszkiewicz Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

- ''Lagerkommandant'' Grabner *

Kazimierz Rudzki Kazimierz Rudzki (6 January 1911, in Warsaw, Poland – 2 February 1976, in Warsaw) was a Polish stage and film actor, theatre director. Studied directing at Państwowy Instytut Sztuki Teatralnej. Actor of Syrena Theatre (also director), Nati ...

- Commission Member *

Wanda Swaryczewska Wanda is a female given name of Polish origin. It probably derives from the tribal name of the Wends.Campbell, Mike"Meaning, Origin, and History of the Name Wanda."''Behind the Name.'' Accessed on August 12, 2010. The name has long been popular ...

Awards

The film ''Passenger'' was entered into the

1964 Cannes Film Festival The 17th Cannes Film Festival was held from 29 April to 14 May 1964. On this occasion, the Palme d’Or was renamed "Grand Prix du Festival International du Film", a name that remained in use through 1974, after which it became the Palme d'Or agai ...

where it won a FIPRESCI Award. The film was also selected as the Polish entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

37th Academy Awards The 37th Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1964. For the first time, an award was presented in the field of makeup. The Best Picture winner of 1964, director George Cukor's ''My Fair Lady'', was about the transformative training o ...

.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Footnotes

Sources

*Niemitz, Dorota. 2014. ''The legacy of postwar Polish filmmaker Andrzej Munk.'' World Socialist Web Site. 13 October, 2014. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/10/13/munk-o13.html Retrieved 08 July, 2022.

External links

* {{Andrzej Munk 1963 films Polish black-and-white films Films directed by Andrzej Munk Films directed by Witold Lesiewicz Holocaust films 1960s Polish-language films Polish films based on plays Polish historical drama films 1960s historical drama films 1963 drama films