4 Alternative Street Explained

Native Name:Alternatywy 4
Director:Stanisław Bareja
Composer:Jerzy Matuszkiewicz
Country:Poland
Language:Polish
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:9
Channel:TVP

4 Alternative Street (Polish: Alternatywy 4, pronounced as /pl/) 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 series title is a result of a dispute among local councilors on what to name a new street in the development (in episode 1). Annoyed by the lack of consensus, one of them quips: "There must be some alternative".

The dialogues, which intended to ridicule the absurdities of everyday life of the times, had to be written in a way that they would be approved by the censorship office. Even then, some scenes had to be removed from the final cut. Thirty 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]

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 revolves around inhabitants of a newly built housing development in Warsaw who won housing assignments after years of patient waiting. They come from various backgrounds and have distinct personalities, and their daily interactions often lead to hilarious encounters. The main character is Stanisław Anioł, a sneaky and cunning estate manager who tries to exert control over every resident. The residents must additionally navigate the challenges of bureaucracy and petty politics to survive. Among the residents are Kotek and Kołek – a crane operator and a doctor who share a similar surname, which leads to them 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 Poland of the time, presented in a satirical way.

Cast

From the Internet Movie Database

mediate disputes.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: "Alternatywy 4" bez cenzury już wkrótce na ekranach . rozrywka.dziennik.pl . 11 September 2014. Polish.
  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. Web site: English: Film Street Alternatywy 4 (Table). 3 July 2011.