I’ve taken a few international cinema courses and there’s always a class dedicated to the movies of Poland. The names always mentioned were Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Agnieszka Holland and Andrzej Wajda. I never heard any professor praise Grzegorz Królikiewicz. After watching Through And Through, I can say this is a glaring omission. I’m not going blame any of my American teachers for not putting the director’s name on the white board or tracking down a 16mm copy of his films. It appears that Grzegorz Królikiewicz was not fortunate to have a major champion on the other side of the Iron Curtain during the ’70s and ’80s. The other four Polish directors had their movies out on VHS tapes in the international section of better indie videostores. Grzegorz Królikiewicz remained in Poland and dealing with the communist government. Now there is no excuse for an international film class skipping over Grzegorz Królikiewicz’s name since his first feature film Through And Through (Na wylot) has arrived on Blu-ray in America and Canada.
Jan Malish (Franciszek Trzeciak) and Maria Malisz (Anna Nieborowska) connect while drinking rather seedy party. The two click as a couple so they run off to get married. Instead of being a wild romance, things quickly go downhill for Jan fast. He shows up at his photography job late on the day the kids show up to get their first communion photos. The owner isn’t thrilled by Jan’s appearance and fires him. This is followed by struggles for the newlywed couple to find jobs that can support them. It’s one disaster and letdown after the next. They find themselves impoverished at the bottom of life. They aren’t able to live on love alone as their circumstances get worse and worse. Finally they are reduced to committing a rather gruesome crime for a chance to score quick cash.
Through And Through is based on a real criminal couple in Poland. But this doesn’t play like a usual true crime drama. There’s quite a bit of experimentation with the film. Time jumps around between stretches of poetic cinema. The film came out around the same time as Badlands so it’s not impersonating Terrence Malick. Grzegorz Królikiewicz captures the vile criminal moment in the harshest ways between camera angles and editing. He gets in tighter than Stanley Kubrick did in A Clockwork Orange. Things get even more intense during the courtroom scene when instead of begging for pity from the court, there’s a non-guilt confession delivered by the couple. The sequence is shot without the usual visual delivery of a courtroom scene. Królikiewicz is going beyond the Perry Mason expectations. He isolates the defendants with stark black backgrounds instead of rows of witness benches or angles that include the judge and jury. Through And Through is not the usual crime film which keeps the unraveling so engaging. This truly brings true crime to the ’70s art house and sets it apart. Grzegorz Królikiewicz deserves to have his name mentioned in any discussion of Polish cinema or true crime turned into a drama.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The black and white 2K restored transfer brings out the shadows of the couple’s life. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono in Polish. The levels are great as you hear drunk arguments clearly. The movie is subtitled in English.
Interview with critic Michał Oleszczyk (37:49) has him excited to talk about the film. He sees it as the best film made in Poland that is rather obscure outside the country. He feels the Blu-ray transfer makes it much better for a new audience to discover the works of Grzegorz Królikiewicz. This film was based on a real crime in 1933. He gives us a sense of the real incident.
Three short films by Grzegorz Królikiewicz includes Everyone Gets What They Don’t Need (1966, 11:38), Brothers (1971, 6:53), Don’t Cry (1972, 9:51). “Everyone Gets What They Don’t Need” deals with a swimming pool and takes an unexpected twist involving World War II footage. “Brothers” has two brothers doing gymnastics. “Don’t Cry” is about drafted men right before they have to report for duty. There’s a lot of long haired men being tossed around. They’re all black & white, very experimental and artsy yet feeling like documentaries at time.
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Ela Bittencourt
Radiance Films present Through And Through: Limited Edition. Directed by Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Screenplay by Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Starring Franciszek Trzeciak, Anna Nieborowska, Irena Ladosiówna, Lucyna Winnicka, Ewa Zdzieszynska and Halina Szram-Kijowska. Running Time: 74 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: August 19, 2025.
