The King of Warsaw ( pl, Król) is a Polish crime series directed by

Jan P. Matuszyński Jan Paweł Matuszyński (; born 23 April 1984, Katowice) is a Polish film director and a producer of documentary films. Life In 2012, he graduated in Film and Television Directing at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice. In 2014, he ...

, based on a 2016 novel of the same name by

Szczepan Twardoch Szczepan Lech Twardoch (; born 23 December 1979 in Knurów) is a Polish-Silesian writer. He has written a series of best-selling novels such as ''Morphine'' (2012), ''Drach'' (2014),''The King'' (2016), ''The Kingdom'' (2018) and ''Pokora'' (2020) ...

. It was produced at the request of Canal+, and premiered on November 6, 2020.

Premise

Jews and anti-semites. Gangsters and boxers. Street fights and political intrigues.

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

. Warsaw is the arena of power struggles between various political factions. A conspiracy at the height of power may change the face of the capital and the entire

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. The city is shaken by a gang led by a Polish socialist Jan Kaplica. One of the leading members is a Jewish boxer, Jakub Szapiro, who dreams of replacing Kaplica and becoming the king of Warsaw. The specter of fascism hangs over Europe.

Cast

Episodes

Production

The shooting period lasted from April to October 1, 2019. Locations of the film set: Warsaw, Modlin,

Konstancin Konstancin is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Góra Świętej Małgorzaty, within Łęczyca County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Łęczyca and north of the regional capital Łó ...

Milanówek Milanówek is a town and a seat of a separate gmina, commune in Poland. Located next to the Grodzisk Mazowiecki County near Warsaw, it is often considered an outlying suburb of the capital of Poland but is in fact an independent entity administr ...

, Łódź (the intersection of Piotrkowska and Roosevelta streets, the intersection of Żeromskiego and Próchnika streets, the Reicher synagogue). The plot of the series intertwines both existing and fictional characters, but inspired by real ones. Real politicians from the times of the Second Polish Republic (mainly Sanacja) include Prime Minister

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (; 9 June 1885, Gąbin – 31 August 1962 London) was a Polish physician,Waclaw Jedrzejewicz ''Piłsudski: A Life for Poland'' Hippocrene, 1982 Page 246 general, freemason and politician who served as Minister of I ...

, Marshal

Edward Śmigły-Rydz Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

and Colonel

Adam Koc Adam Ignacy Koc (31 August 1891 – 3 February 1969) was a Polish politician, MP, soldier, journalist and Freemason. Koc, who had several ''noms de guerre'' (Witold, Szlachetny, Adam Krajewski, Adam Warmiński and Witold Warmiński), fought ...

. Jakub Szapiro is inspired by pre-war light weight boxer

Szapsel Rotholc Szapsel Rotholc (July 2, 1913, Warsaw, Poland – 29 February 1996, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was a Polish boxer. Born into a Jewish family in Warsaw, he was a member of the ''Gwiazda Warszawa'' Boxing Club in 1929–1939. He won the bronz ...

, for some time a leading player of Makabi Warsaw.

References

External links