Hotel Pacific

Polish film 'Zaklete Rewiry' was produced in 1975 by the famous film studio TOR. This Janusz Majewski film is also known as 'Hotel Excelsior'. It chronicles the professional as well as emotional life of a young boy Roman Boryczko who is able to make a formidable standing in hotel business through hard work. However, adverse circumstances at work force him to realize that hard work is simply not enough to reach on the top in the 'dog eat dog' world of a service oriented hotel industry. The unique thing about 'Zaklete Rewiry' is the filming of a large chunk of its major portions in the restaurant of a grand hotel where some eccentric characters come to eat food and make merry. Many of these figures help viewers to understand the mysteries of human nature at a close distance as their eccentricities throw light about the vagaries of human nature. One needs to watch how a baron comes in search of sexual adventures by targeting the young Boryszko. With actor Marek Kondrat giving one of his best performances as a young hotel industry professional, this Czech-Polish co production has been brilliantly shot by DOP Miroslav Ondricek.

Henryk Worcell was the nom de plume of Polish author and journalist Tadeusz Kurtyka (1909-1982). Kurtyka left his family as a teenager in 1925 to move to Krakow, where he joined the staff of the Grand Hotel. He worked as a dishwasher, buffet attendant and finally as a waiter. Kurtyka made contact in the hotel's restaurant with writer Michal Choromanski, who encouraged him to develop the diary he was keeping into a book and suggested his pen name. The result was the popular 1936 novel Zaklete Rewiry, which translates to "Enchanted Territories" or "Enchanted Places" (the title is no doubt ironic).

The protagonist of the novel is Worcell's alter ego, Roman Boryczko. The place is the fictitious Pacific Hotel, an establishment that combines slightly faded splendor with seediness, and the subject is the complex relations between workers, supervisors and owners, those who obey, those who command and those who do both. This development is parallel to (and clashes with) Roman's personal path to intellectual and moral betterment. An amusing sidebar: Worcell's colleagues are so vividly described in the book that they could easily recognize themselves. The author himself writes that after the release he had to leave Krakow.

Director Janus Majewski has put together a slice-of-life film where nothing stands out in particular but interest never flags. He is supported by first rate set and costume designs, an excellent cast headed by Marek Kondrat as Roman and the outstanding work of Czech cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek. The copy available in the rental services has been digitally restored with excellent results.

One night I been scrolling through the classic movies on Netflix and I stepped on this movie that I have never heard before, I thought it was famous or something since it was on Netflix. I watched the whole thing in one sit without getting bored ,it's one of that feel good movies. It's have this unique personality that is not actually good scripted movie but the camera works and the hotel and the time it's all affected the mood of the movie in a good way , I very much recommend it and it's suprising that it's not famous.

This was a first for me. I never had seen a Polish film. It is well done with some nice settings and excellent cinematography. But it grinds on and on and on... There is predictable sex and unseeimngly harsh discipline as inexperienced waiters serve stereotyped upper class diners. (Interesting this was done during the "workers paradise" phase of Poland's turbulent history. ) Nor is it clear in which era the story is set. Judging from the women's fashion, it seems to be somewhere between 1925 and 1935. Worth a look if you're interested in what a Polish movie looks like. But a challenging or entertaining evening it ain't!

Hotel Pacific, or Zaklete rewiry, as its called in Poland. Romek Boryczko starts working in a restaurant, and the owner gives him some money to spiff up and look presentable. the manager drives the workers all crazy, works them hard, and smacks the help around. of course, the workers are snitching drinks and food behind his back, so i guess some of it is deserved. and Romek isn't making friends among his co-workers by jumping up the ladder so fast. 1975. in poland. all the awkward interactions of the staff. and just by paying attention, and trying to do the right thing (most of the time....) Boryczko gets ahead. Some of it is pretty bleak, but they all struggle on. kind of a month in the life of. Directed by Janusz Majewski, who wrote many things, and directed many films! this one moves pretty slowly, but that may be partly due to the translation.