Alternatywy 4

Alternatywy 4 ([ˌaltɛrnaˈtɨvɨ ˈʧ̑tɛrɨ]; "4 Alternative (Disjunction) Street") is a Polish comedy TV series that was completed in 1983 and, due to the censorship, first aired only in 1986. Many famous Polish actors appeared in the series. The filming location used in Alternatywy 4 was a residential complex, still in existence at 3 Marii Grzegorzewskiej Street in Warsaw, Poland. The series was a satire of life under the communist rule in Poland. The dialogues had to be written in a way that they would be approved by the communist authorities censorship office. Due to the censorship, partial or entire scenes had to be cut. 30 years after the series was filmed it underwent a digital reconstruction and the initially deleted scenes were added, after they had been found in the archives of TVP.[1]

Alternatywy 4
Block of flats at 3 Marii Grzegorzewskiej Street in Warsaw, where Alternatywy 4 was shot
GenreSitcom
Satire
Written byStanisław Bareja
Janusz Płoński
Maciej Rybiński
Directed byStanisław Bareja
ComposerJerzy Matuszkiewicz
Country of originPoland
Original languagePolish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes9
Release
Original networkTVP
Original releaseSeptember 30, 1986 (1986-09-30)
Chronology
Followed byDylematu 5

The series title is a result of a dispute among the real estate developers on what to name a new street in their development (in episode 1). Annoyed by the lack of consensus, one of them quips: "There must be some alternative". In 2005, one of the streets in Ursynów district, where the series plot had taken place, was officially named Alternatywy to commemorate the series.[2] The residential building, where most of the scenes were shot, bears a plaque, that aside from the actual street name (M. Grzegorzewskiej 3) also contains an inscription, "Formerly Alternatywy 4".[3]

Plot

The series follows the winners of a Communist-era housing lottery, who have been selected after years of patient waiting to move into a newly built apartment building in Warsaw. The residents must navigate the challenges of Communist-era bureaucracy and politics in their daily lives, such as trying to follow the illogical rules of their arrogant landlord Stanisław Anioł, who enjoys manipulating and spying on his subjects.

The apartment come from various backgrounds and with distinct personalities, whose daily interactions seem to often lead to hilarious encounters.

There are Kotek and Kołek - a crane operator and a doctor who share a similar surname, which leads to mistakenly being assigned the same apartment to share. There is the street-smart alcoholic Józef Balcerek who tries to hide his criminal machinations from Anioł’s watchful gaze. There is the young woman Ewa Majewska, whose only outlet from the banality of her life is working a secret night-shift as a stripper.

The circumstances of the characters are different, but they all experience the bizarre oddities of life in Communist-era Poland.

Episodes
StoryTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Przydział (The Assignment)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński30 November 1986 (1986-11-30)
Impatient citizens await the results of the next housing "lottery", a list posting the names of lucky winners who would be entitled to a government-provided apartment in Communist-era Poland. But the lucky winners find that winning a new housing assignment comes with its own set of problems.
2"Przeprowadzka (Moving in)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński7 December 1986 (1986-12-07)
After bureaucratic missteps delay the construction of the housing residents' new home, a well-placed bribe puts the project back on schedule. When the move in day finally arrives, the residents find themselves dealing with new challenges under the watchful eye of their arrogant landlord.
3"Pierwsza noc (The First Night)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński14 December 1986 (1986-12-14)
A debate among municipal councilors leads to the decision to call the new street “Alternatywy”, rather than naming it after a historical figure. The new tenants located at Alternatywy 4 mingle and try to organize a tenant’s association without alerting their suspicious landlord.
4"Profesjonaliści (The Professionals)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński21 December 1986 (1986-12-21)
As the residents settle in, they are visited by opportunistic handymen seeking to correct the building’s shoddy construction work. The landlord continues to spy on his tenants and has begun reading their mail. He learns that a prominent Party apparatchik will move into the building.
5"20-ty stopień zasilania (The Blackout)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński24 December 1986 (1986-12-24)
A coal shortage at the power plant causes an outage at Alternatywy 4 during a cold spell. The resourceful residents take matters into their own hands by repurposing an old steam locomotive to re-power the building. Meanwhile, the landlord takes advantage of an American academic visiting from Harvard.
6"Gołębie (The Pigeons)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński28 December 1986 (1986-12-28)
The landlord enlists residents to spy on his tenants. When an alcoholic refuses to cooperate, the landlord forges a letter summoning him for government-mandated rehab. The alcoholic relents, but is distracted when his pigeons are scared off by a rogue gunshot.
7"Spisek (The Plot)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński4 January 1987 (1987-01-04)
The residents have had enough of participating in time-consuming building social functions and chores that the landlord has mandated. They organize and deliver a petition to the local cooperative seeking to replace the landlord, but are outmaneuvered by the clever landlord himself.
8"Wesele (The Wedding)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński11 January 1987 (1987-01-11)
The alcoholic hosts a wedding for a relative and invites the building to celebrate. The landlord disrupts the festivities by shutting the power off and mandating all residents attend an impromptu meeting. But the intervention of a Communist apparatchik saves the day.
9"Upadek (The Fall)"Stanislaw BarejaStanisław Bareja, Janusz Płoński and Maciej Rybiński18 January 1987 (1987-01-18)

Cast

From the Internet Movie Database

See also

References
  1. ""Alternatywy 4" bez cenzury już wkrótce na ekranach". rozrywka.dziennik.pl (in Polish). 11 September 2014.
  2. UCHWAŁA Nr XLV/1114/2005 RADY MIASTA STOŁECZNEGO WARSZAWY z dnia 27 stycznia 2005 r. w sprawie nadania nazwy ulicom w Dzielnicy Ursynów m.st. Warszawy.. "Dziennik Urzędowy Województwa Mazowieckiego". poz. 55 nr 1356, 2005.
  3. "English: Film Street Alternatywy 4 (Table)". 3 July 2011.
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