Polish Cinema on Disc

[Lemmy Caution]

Thanks for that.
Does sound interesting, with the initial screenplay co-written by Czeslaw Milosz, and inspired by the "memories of the famous composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman.
Seems it was filmed in late '48 and early '49, but then censored, reworked and not released until the end of 1950. Contains footage of the war ruins of Warsaw.

[posto]

I have not seen this film but I read correspondence between Milosz and Andrzejewski from the late 40's. They collaborated on developing screenplay for this movie. The story was inspired by life of W. Szpilman, and if I remember correctly it was Milosz's idea to write a screenplay - he was fascinated by Szpilman's story. Then Milosz left for Washington DC and kept asking Andrzejewski about the fate of a screenplay, which was changed a few times.
Milosz ended up distancing himself from the movie as final screenplay varied considerably from his original draft.
I'd like to see this movie just because Milosz' was involved but I suspect that it is a heavy-handed social-realist junk.

[posto]

I'm not sure if it was mentioned here, but I found interesting site: 100 years of polish cinema

[L.A.]

Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie / The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) [DVD]+[książka]

Just noticed this, appears to be a new release. Hopefully English subtitles are provided.

[MichaelB]

Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie / The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) [DVD]+[książka]

Just noticed this, appears to be a new release. Hopefully English subtitles are provided.

It is indeed a new release, and the phrase "rekonstrukcja cyfrowa" highlights that it's probably the new digital restoration that was completed last year to mark the 10th anniversary of Wojciech Has's death - so the source should be considerably better than the analogue master that fuelled the Image, Malavida and Mr Bongo releases.

I can't find reliable info on subtitles (some sites say yes, others no), though there are English SRT subtitle files doing the usual rounds online. So I'll probably buy it anyway - especially as there are horribly convincing rumours that the promised Blu-ray of the same digital restoration may not be happening.

Incidentally, this appears to be part of a 20-disc series, released weekly between 5 March and 16 July, with each package highlighting a particular name - usually the director or star, though composer Krzysztof Komeda also gets a look-in (presumably because Janusz Morgenstern and Zbigniew Cybulski already had films of their own when considering who to highlight for Goodbye Till Tomorrow).

5 March: Andrzej Wajda: Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i diament, d. Wajda, 1958)
12 March: Zbigniew Cybulski: The Saragossa Manuscript (Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie, d. Wojciech Has, 1965)
19 March: Leon Niemczyk: Night Train (Pociąg, d. Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959)
26 March: Franciszek Pieczka: Austeria (d. Kawalerowicz, 1982)
2 April: Andrzej Łapicki: Salto (d. Tadeusz Konwicki, 1965)
9 April: Wojciech Jerzy Has: The Hourglass Sanatorium (Sanatorium pod klepsydrą, d. Has, 1973)
16 April: Lucyna Winnicka: Mother Joan of the Angels (Matka Joanna od Aniołów, d. Kawalerowicz, 1961)
23 April: Jerzy Stuhr: Sex Mission (Seksmisja, d. Juliusz Machulski, 1984)
30 April: Krzysztof Komeda: Goodbye Till Tomorrow (Do widzenia, do jutra, d. Janusz Morgenstern, 1960)
8 May: Janusz Morgenstern: Kill That Love (Trzeba zabic te milosc, d. Morgenstern, 1972)
14 May: Elżbieta Czyżewska: Giuseppe in Warsaw (Giuseppe w Warszawie, d. Stanisław Lenartowicz, 1964)
21 May: Tadeusz Konwicki: The Last Day of Summer (Ostatni dzień lata, d. Konwicki, 1958)
28 May: Jan Machulski: Hit the Bank (Vabank, d. Juliusz Machulski, 1981)
4 June: Leonard Pietraszak: Hit the Bank II (Vabank II, d. Juliusz Machulski, 1985)
11 June: Tadeusz Łomnicki: Innocent Sorcerers (Niewinni czarodzieje, d. Wajda, 1960)
18 June: Edward Dziewoński: Eroica (d. Andrzej Munk, 1957)
25 June: Jan Nowicki: The Big Shark (Wielki Szu, d. Sylwester Chęciński, 1982)
2 July: Jerzy Kawalerowicz: Pharaoh (Faraon, d. Kawalerowicz, 1965)
9 July: Daniel Olbrychski: Jovita (Jowita, d. Morgenstern, 1967)
16 July: Wojciech Pszoniak: The Wedding (Wesele, d. Wajda, 1973)

I'm going to be in Kraków in mid-April, so I'll try to check some of these out in a branch of Empik or equivalent - if the first batch all have English subtitles, that bodes well for the rest. And I'm assuming these are new restorations, as I know that a number of these titles were recently revamped - so I'll be able to ditch my less than wonderful copies of Eroica and Innocent Sorcerers.

[Jurgeen]

MichaelB all this new release, are without subs and you can't buy in Empik only on the internet...

[L.A.]

http://merlin.pl/Horrory_Marek-Nowicki- ... 74988.html

Got the Horrory (3DVD) box today and the films in this collection have English subtitles, just checked. Unfortunately, no extras this time.

[MichaelB]

Bizarrely, I couldn't find Horrory for sale in Kraków last week despite it being a recent release - and the shops I tried had plenty of other titles in the same series. Oh well, at least it exists, and I'll snap it up in my next Merlin order.

I also couldn't see any sign of the DVD+Book editions mentioned above, though I've had another confirmation that subtitles are definitely not included.

I did, however, snap up loads of other titles, so when I get a moment I'll update my master list several hundred posts back.

UPDATE: Despite clearly saying "Napisy: angielski" on the back of the box, Monolith Video's DVD of Władysław Pasikowski's Słodko Gorzki does not have English subtitles - and I'm afraid that's 100% certain: I scoured the disc using every analytical tool I possess.

[Perkins Cobb]

Did that Polish Blu-ray of Krzyzacy (Knights of the Teutonic Order) ever actually come out? The discussion earlier in this thread was rather confusing.

[MichaelB]

I haven't seen it on sale anywhere yet.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Bizarrely, I couldn't find Horrory for sale in Kraków last week despite it being a recent release - and the shops I tried had plenty of other titles in the same series. Oh well, at least it exists, and I'll snap it up in my next Merlin order.

This series is/was in the magazine racks in Empik Warsaw and Katowice . Incidentally when I asked some friends about 'Krzyzacy' they burst out laughing. Thinking they thought I meant the Lloyd-Webberish muiscal of the same name that's current in Poland I assured the I meant the Ford film. It didn't matter, as far as they were concerned the film seems to be considered by all of them (all in the film industry and ardent cinephiles) as a pompous leaden propaganda piece and couldn't at all understand my interest. Just saying.

[MichaelB]

Bizarrely, I couldn't find Horrory for sale in Kraków last week despite it being a recent release - and the shops I tried had plenty of other titles in the same series. Oh well, at least it exists, and I'll snap it up in my next Merlin order.

This series is/was in the magazine racks in Empik Warsaw and Katowice .

I'm talking about the latest Telewizja Kinopolska box sets - no magazines attached. I had no trouble finding the part of the DVD section where the rest of the series was on sale (Box Sets, unsurprisingly), but neither branch of Empik I visited had Horrory.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I'm talking about the latest Telewizja Kinopolska box sets - no magazines attached. I had no trouble finding the part of the DVD section where the rest of the series was on sale (Box Sets, unsurprisingly), but neither branch of Empik I visited had Horrory.

Sorry got confused with the list above. I spent a good half hour trekking around looking for the Has till I found the magazine racks. Incidentally have you found a similar antipathy to the Ford during your travels?

[MichaelB]

Incidentally have you found a similar antipathy to the Ford during your travels?

No, because I've never discussed the film with a Polish person. Largely because I haven't seen it myself yet - I'm holding out for a decent version.

[L.A.]

Latest release in the Telewizja Kinopolska series:

Dla dzieci dużych i małych (3DVD)

Includes the following films:

Król Maciuś I (1958)
Awantura o Basię (1959)
Szaleństwa panny Ewy (1985)

Never heard of these films before, but I'm interested. Will definitely get this one.

[MichaelB]

The literal translation of the title is 'For Children Big and Small'.

[MichaelB]

Another Telewizja Kinopolska box has just been announced, this time devoted to Stanisław Różewicz - a relatively major figure in Polish cinema who's practically unknown abroad. He's probably best known for The Birth Certificate (Świadectwo urodzenia, 1961), included in one of the 50 Years of the Polish Film School box sets, and the war drama Westerplatte (1967).

As far as I can see, it contains three features, namely:

The Wicked Gate (Drzwi w murze, 1973)
A Woman with a Hat (Kobieta w kapeluszu, 1984)
An Angel in the Wardrobe (Anioł w szafie, 1987)

Marek Haltof's Polish National Cinema discusses the middle title:

Intimate psychological dramas and safe literary adaptations formed the canon of Polish cinema in the mid-1980s. The oppressive, highly politicised atmosphere of these years better suited films like the winner of the 1985 Festival of Polish Films, Kobieta w kapeluszu (A Woman with a Hat). It is a subtle morality play, devoid of direct references to Polish political reality, that tells the story about a young actress, Ewa (Hanna Mikuć), who lives an unfulfilled dream of becoming a successful actress).

The box also includes a 47-minute TV documentary about Różewicz - I'm assuming this will have English subtitles too, based on precedent.

[Lazertron]

Thanks for the heads-up, MichaelB - Merlin received my order just now. I also stumpled upon the Kazimierz Kutz set, which I hadn't noticed before.

[posto]

I found Tadeusz Różewicz's play adapted and directed by Kieslowski in 1979 for polish TV.
No mention of English subtitles, and I'd be surprised if there were any.
Here is a link to a page from a book:The cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski, which mentions this play's adaptation.
Tadeusz is a brother of Stanisław - his 3 movies will be released this week (see MichaelB post above).
My son is in Poland now and he will be buying both for me.

[MichaelB]

The play is available in English, as The Card Index, and there are several second-hand editions currently available on Amazon. So even if the DVD doesn't have subtitles (which I agree is very likely), it should be easy enough to follow.

[MichaelB]

Thanks for the heads-up, MichaelB - Merlin received my order just now. I also stumpled upon the Kazimierz Kutz set, which I hadn't noticed before.

Since they're adding up to an increasingly impressive collection of Polish cinema from the late 1940s to the early 1990s, it's probably worth posting a fleshed-out list of all the Telewizja Kinopolska boxes to date. I've seen enough of these now to predict more or less exactly what I'm going to get - a watchable transfer, usually from a projection print (evidence: damage around reel-change marks, heightened contrast) - the major exception to that general rule are the Wojciech Has, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Janusz Morgenstern and Andrzej Wajda boxes, which use the recent digital restorations. English subtitles seem to be provided on every film (including the extras), although the booklets are exclusively in Polish - a shame, as they're comfortably on a par with Second Run/BFI equivalents.

I've tried to come up with official English titles whenever possible, but most of these films were never given a commercial release in English-speaking countries, so I've fallen back on either the film's subtitled title or my own doubtless deeply flawed translation.

Arcydzieła polskiego kina
(literally: 'Masterpieces of Polish Cinema' - each box contains three or four features by a single director, often with shorts and/or documentaries)

• Filip Bajon
  • Aria for an Athlete/Aria dla atlety (1979)
    Inspection of the Crime Scene 1901/Wizja lokalna 1901 (1980)
    Limousine Daimler-Benz/Limuzyna Daimler-Benz (1981)
  Aleksander Ford
  • Border Street/Ulica Graniczna (1948)
    The Boys from Barska Street/Piątka z ulicy Barskiej (1954)
    The First Day of Freedom/Pierwszy dzień wolności (1964)
    plus the documentary Loved and Hated/Kochamy i nienawidzony (d. Stanisław Janicki, 2002)
  Wojciech Jerzy Has
  • The Saragossa Manuscript/Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie (1965)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium/Sanatorium pod klepsydrą (1973)
    plus the documentaries Out of a Dream, A Dream/Ze snu sen (d. Adam Kuczyński, 1998) and Traces/Ślady (d. Robert Gliński, 2012)
  Agnieszka Holland
  • The Film Test/Zdjęcia próbne (1976)
    Provincial Actors/Aktorzy prowincjonalni (1978)
    Fever/Gorączka (1980)
    A Woman Alone/Kobieta samotna (1981)
  Jerzy Kawalerowicz
  • Night Train/Pociąg (1959)
    Mother Joan of the Angels/Matka Joanna od aniołów (1960)
    Pharaoh/Faraon (1965)
    Austeria (1982)
  Tadeusz Konwicki
  • How Far From Here Yet How Close/Jak daleko stąd, jak blisko (1971)
    The Issa Valley/Dolina Issy (1982)
    Lava/Lawa (1989)
    plus the documentary Passerby/Przechodzień (d. Andrzej Titkow, 1984)
  Grzegorz Królikiewicz
  • Through and Through/Na wylot (1972)
    Endless Claims/Wieczne pretensje (1974)
    The Dancing Hawk/Tańczący jastrząb (1977)
    Killing Auntie/Zabicie ciotki (1984)
    plus the shorts Everyone Gets What He Doesn't Need/Każdemu to, czego mu wcale nie trzeba (1967) and Go/Idź (1989)
  Kazimierz Kutz
  • The Taste of the Black Earth/Sól ziemi czarnej (1969)
    Pearl in the Crown/Perła w koronie (1971)
    The Beads of a Rosary/Paciorki jednego różańca (1979)
    plus the documentary The Silesian Story/Śląska opowieść (d. Stanisław Janicki, 1974)
  Wojciech Marczewski
  • Nightmares/Zmory (1978)
    Shivers/Dreszcze (1981)
    Escape from the Liberty Cinema/Ucieczka z Kina 'Wolność' (1990)
    plus a 2007 documentary about Marczewski
  Janusz Morgenstern
  • Goodbye, See You Tomorrow/Do widzenia, do jutra (1960)
    Jowita (1967)
    To Kill This Love/Trzeba zabić tę miłość (1972)
    plus the documentary Exercises in Forgetting/Ćwiczenia z niepamięci (d. Antoni Krauze, 2004)
  Stanisław Różewicz
  • The Wicked Gate/Drzwi w murze (1973)
    A Woman with a Hat/Kobieta w kapeluszu (1984)
    An Angel in the Wardrobe/Anioł w szafie (1987)
  Jerzy Skolimowski
  • Identification Marks: None/Rysopis (1964)
    Walkover/Walkower (1965)
    Barrier/Bariera (1966)
    Hands Up!/Ręce do góry (1981 version)
  Jerzy Stefan Stawiński
  • Before the Leaves Fall/Rozwodów nie będzie (1963)
    Penguin/Pingwin (1964)
    Christmas Eve/Wieczór przedświąteczny (1966)
  Piotr Szulkin
  • Golem (1980)
    War of the Worlds - Next Century/Wojna światów - Następne stulecie (1981)
    O-bi, O-ba: The End of Civilisation/O-bi, o-ba: Koniec cywilizacji (1984)
    Ga, ga: Glory to the Heroes/Ga, ga: Chwała bohaterom (1985)
    plus the shorts Working Women/Kobiety pracujące (1978) and Meat (Ironica)/Mięso (Ironica) (1993)
  Andrzej Wajda
  • Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru (1977)
    Rough Treatment (Bez znieczulenia, 1978)
    Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza (1981)
    plus the documentary Andrzej Wajda: Róbmy zdjęcie!/Let's Shoot! (d. Maciej Cuske, Thierry Paladino, Marcin Sauter, Piotr Stasik, 2008)
  Krzysztof Zanussi
  • Inventory/Bilans kwartalny (1974)
    Spiral/Spirala (1978)
    The Year of the Quiet Sun/Rok spokojnego słońca (1984)
    plus the documentary Anxiety/Niepokój (d. Krzysztof Tchórzewski, 2004)
  Edward Żebrowski
  • Salvation/Ocalenie (1972)
    Hospital of Transfiguration/Szpital przemienienia (1978)
    In Broad Daylight/W biały dzień (1980)
  Andrzej Żuławski
  • The Third Part of the Night/Trzecia część nocy (1971)
    The Devil/Diabeł (1972)
    On the Silver Globe/Na srebrnym globie (1987)
    plus the documentary Żuławski on Żuławski/Żuławski o Żuławskim (2000)

Przeboje polskiego kina
(literally: "Hits of Polish Cinema" - mostly genre-based compilations with a strong focus on kids' films, though a couple of popular directors, Kondratiuk and Piwowarski, have ended up here instead of in the first collection)

• Horrory
  • Lokis - Professor Wittembach's Manuscript/Lokis. Rękopis profesora Wittembacha (d. Janusz Majewski, 1970)
    Wolf/Wilczyca (d. Marek Piestrak, 1982)
    Phantom/Widziadło (d. Marek Nowicki, 1983)
  Dla dzieci dużych i małych (literally "For big and small children")
  • King Matthew I/Król Maciuś I (d. Wanda Jakubowska, 1958)
    Argument about Basia/Awantura o Basię (d. Maria Kaniewska, 1959)
    The Follies of Miss Eva/Szaleństwa panny Ewy (d. Kazimierz Tarnas, 1985)
  Andrzej Kondratiuk
  • Hydro-Riddle/Hydrozagadka (1970)
    How It's Done/Jak to się robi (1973)
    The Ascended/Wniebowzięci (1973)
    plus the shorts Bugler's Monologue/Monolog trębacza (1965) and I Want To Have A Shave/Chciałbym się ogolić (1966)
  Pan Kleks (literally "Mr Inkblot" - three children's films)
  • Mr Inkblot's Academy/Akademia Pana Kleksa (d. Krzysztof Gradowski, 1983)
    Mr Inkblot's Journeys/Podróże Pana Kleksa (d. Krzysztof Gradowski, 1985)
    Mr Inkblot In Space/Pan Kleks w kosmosie (d. Krzysztof Gradowski, 1988)
  Pan Samochodzik (literally "Mr Car" - three children's films)
  • Mr Car and the Amazing Mansion/Pan Samochodzik i niesamowity dwór (d. Janusz Kidawa, 1986)
    Mr Car and the Prague Mystery/Pan Samochodzik i praskie tajemnice (d. Kazimierz Tarnas, 1988)
    The Flying Machine versus Mr Car/Latające machiny kontra Pan Samochodzik (d. Janusz Kidawa, 1991)
  Pojechane w kosmos (literally "They Went Into Space")
  • The Silent Star/Milcząca gwiazda, d. Kurt Maetzig, 1959)
    Signals - An Adventure in Space/Sygnały MMXX (d. Gottfried Kolditz, 1970)
    Pilot Pirx's Test Flight/Test Pilota Pirxa (d. Marek Piestrak, 1978)
    The Curse of Snakes Valley/Klątwa Doliny Węży, d. Marek Piestrak, 1987)
    plus the shorts The Friend/Przyjaciel (d. Marek Nowicki, Jerzy Stawicki, 1965) and Computers/Komputerowy (d. Krzysztof Zanussi, 1967)
  Radosław Piwowarski
  • My Mother's Lovers/Kochankowie mojej mamy (1985)
    Train to Hollywood/Pociąg do Hollywood (1987)
    March Almonds/Marcowe migdały (1989)
  To właśnie miłość (literally "It's Love", though this was also the Polish title of Love, Actually)
  • The Husband/Mąż swojej żony (d. Stanisław Bareja, 1960)
    A Cure for Love/Lekarstwo na miłość (d. Jan Batory, 1965)
    Marriage of Convenience/Małżeństwo z rozsądku (d. Stanisław Bareja, 1966)
  Za jeden uśmiech (literally "With a smile" - four kids' films)
  • Go Go Paragon/Paragon gola (d. Stanisław Jędryka, 1970)
    A Trip for a Smile/Podróż za jeden uśmiech (d. Stanisław Jędryka, 1972)
    The Girl and the Boy/Dziewczyna i chłopak (d. Stanisław Loth, 1982)
    The Black Feet/Czarne stopy (d. Waldemar Podgórski, 1986)

Awangarda/Off
(literally: "Avant-garde/Off" - potentially intriguing, but so far there's been just one release, which I haven't seen)

• Łyżka czyli Chilli (literally "Spoon or Chilli", but I suspect there's a pun going on between 'czyli' and 'chilli' that defies translation)

There's a brief passage in the book Polish Cinema Now! that provides background - Łyżka czyli Chilli, established in 1992, is a group of three experimental artists who specialise in satirising both the pomposity of "serious" gallery-oriented video-art and dismantling traditional Polish stereotypes. I've been meaning to get a copy of this, but I suspect much of the satire will mean more to Poles with adult memories of the communist and early capitalist era than anyone else.

[posto]

Awangarda/Off
(literally: "Avant-garde/Off" - potentially intriguing, but so far there's been just one release, which I haven't seen)

• Łyżka czyli Chilli (literally "Spoon or Chilli", but I suspect there's a pun going on between 'czyli' and 'chilli' that defies translation)

There's a brief passage in the book Polish Cinema Now! that provides background - Łyżka czyli Chilli, established in 1992, is a group of three experimental artists who specialise in satirising both the pomposity of "serious" gallery-oriented video-art and dismantling traditional Polish stereotypes. I've been meaning to get a copy of this, but I suspect much of the satire will mean more to Poles with adult memories of the communist and early capitalist era than anyone else.

I bought that, watched 1 disc and had enough. Not my cup of tea. "Czyli" and "chili" are pronounced the same in polish, other than that I'm not sure if there is any pun. This is one set I regret buying, but I recommend other sets.
I have all of "Arcydzieła" sets (waiting for Różewicz).
My favorite are Szulkin, Skolimowski, Bajon and Konwicki (whose books I also admire and recommend), but I think that every "Arcydzieła" set is very interesting.
I agree it is a pity that booklets are not bi-lingual. They typically consist of good essay and interview(s) with directors.

I have a 3 sets of "Przeboje polskiego kina" - Kondratiuk is my favorite. Thanks chiefly to Jan Himilsbch and Maklakiewicz duo.
I also have "They went Into Space", but I only endured "The Silent Star" so far. It was so incredibly cliche soc-realism, I have to work-up the courage to watch the next 3 movies.
I liked "With a Smile" a lot. Yes, they are kids movies, but 2 of them: Paragon and A Trip for a smile are pretty damn good.

[MichaelB]

I also have "They went Into Space", but I only endured "The Silent Star" so far. It was so incredibly cliche soc-realism, I have to work-up the courage to watch the next 3 movies.

You certainly have to make allowances, but I thought it was pretty impressive for 1959 - I mean, how many English-language sci-fi films were quite as far-sighted about things like international co-operation? The multicultural cast beat Star Trek's by a good half-decade. The first half is admittedly a bit of a slog, but things improve immensely once they get to Venus.

That said, this particular transfer has a major problem in that it's been panned-and-scanned to 1.33:1 from the original 2.35:1 (I'm guessing it's from an old 4:3 Polish TV master) - so if I'd bought just this disc on its own, I'd have felt extremely miffed, especially as First Run Films has a correctly-framed version out in the US. But it costs almost as much ($24.99) as the entire Polish box set (approx. $28 at today's exchange rate), without the three bonus features and two shorts.

Talking of the shorts, I thought they were pretty good - especially Krzysztof Zanussi's Computers and its demonstration of how to build a functioning binary calculation device using well-behaved children and a large grid.

[posto]

You certainly have to make allowances, but I thought it was pretty impressive for 1959 - I mean, how many English-language sci-fi films were quite as far-sighted about things like international co-operation? The multicultural cast beat Star Trek's by a good half-decade. The first half is admittedly a bit of a slog, but things improve immensely once they get to Venus.

Talking of the shorts, I thought they were pretty good - especially Krzysztof Zanussi's Computers and its demonstration of how to build a functioning binary calculation device using well-behaved children and a large grid.

I'm probably judging this movie too harshly or from too narrow perspective. I just may give it it another try, at least a second half.
Netflix has First Run version. As somebody on Netflix put it: "Movie does have a certain commie stiffness", which for me made it tedious.

I didn't know about the aspect ratio problem. I've also noticed that Telewizja Kinopolska is 89 min and First Run version 95 min long. Filmpolski.pl shows 89 min.
Uhm - I totally missed Zanussi on this set - will watch tonight.

[MichaelB]

I've also noticed that Telewizja Kinopolska is 89 min and First Run version 95 min long. Filmpolski.pl shows 89 min.

It's 89 mins 38 secs, but that would be after PAL speedup from an original of 93 mins 22 secs - Filmpolski.pl must have got their running time from a TV screening or video copy.

Unfortunately, I can't find out exactly how long the First Run Films disc is, because it doesn't seem to have been reviewed by a site like DVD Beaver that checks the actual on-disc running time - but if it really is 95 mins I'm guessing that the discrepancy may also be due to differing credit titles (the Telewizja Kinopolska print's are entirely in Polish, and presented as a continuous crawl).

Anyway, it seems likely that they're broadly the same version of the film, though the First Run will be framed correctly and presumably in dubbed German. I doubt there's much difference between that and Polish, given that the international cast are clearly speaking multiple languages.

Oh, and the two shorts are tucked away on disc two - Sygnały MMXX.