NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Radiance Blu-ray (August 2025): Radiance have transferred Grzegorz Królikiewicz's Through and Through to Blu-ray. It is cited as a "New 2K restoration supervised by cinematographer Bogdan Dziworski". Visually, the film is a masterclass in expressionism: cinematographer Bogdan Dziworski employs distorted angles, prolonged takes, and chiaroscuro lighting to evoke psychological torment. Black levels are deep and stable, preserving shadow details and avoiding crush, with high contrast lighting that highlights the monochrome cinematography's bright whites and deep blacks; flesh tones remain consistent, and the overall visual depth, especially in wider shots, makes this a revelatory presentation for an avant-garde film from 1973. This 1080P transfer, in the original 1.37:1, captures textures in clothing, walls, and backgrounds with natural clarity, while maintaining a healthy layer of film grain that enhances the organic, film-like quality without any distracting artifacts, banding, or digital noise. This is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and the HD presentation appears exemplary in reproducing Through and Through's video roots.

NOTE: We have added 54 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Radiance use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original Polish language. Sound plays a crucial role, with off-screen noises (e.g., screams, impacts) substituting for visual violence, creating an auditory horror that engages the imagination. The transfer offers a clean and clear mix that faithfully reproduces the film's experimental sound design, including exaggerated effects, ambient textures, and the prickly, avant-garde scoring by Janusz Hajdun (Killing Auntie) and Henryk Kuzniak (Vabank.) Dialogue is well-prioritized, centered, and free of distortion or harsh peaks, with post-dubbed performances coming through intelligibly in the lossless. Radiance offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Radiance's Blu-ray supplements are headlined by a new 40 minute interview with critic Michał Oleszczyk (Boro, L'Île d'Amour: The Films of Walerian Borowczyk,) who provides insightful context on its reception in Poland, the real-life Malisz murder case, Królikiewicz's stylistic influences (including comparisons to Godard and Dostoyevsky,) and the film's place in Polish cinema. Also included are three early short films by director Grzegorz Królikiewicz: Everyone Gets What They Don’t Need (1966, a dozen minutes,) a documentary-style piece on a young filmmaker who investigates the death of a drowned Professional swimmer; Brothers (1971, 1/2 a dozen minutes,) focusing on Olympic training; Professional gymnast siblings train. While one performs. The others spot him -  and Don’t Cry (1972, 10 minutes), depicting men's last night before serving military service. Each offer a glimpse into the filmmaker's evolving style. The package is completed with a limited edition 20 page booklet featuring new writing by critic Ela Bittencourt, who explores Królikiewicz's "proletarian Baroque" aesthetic and "off-camera space" concept, alongside a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow.

Grzegorz Królikiewicz's Through and Through stands as a landmark of Polish avant-garde cinema, blending raw social realism with experimental formalism to dissect the human psyche under duress. Inspired by the infamous 1933 murder case of the Malisz couple in pre-war Kraków, the film chronicles the descent of impoverished newlyweds Jan and Maria Malisz into crime and violence. Królikiewicz, drawing from his background as a documentarian and theorist, transforms this tabloid-like true crime story into a profound exploration of alienation, poverty, and the moral voids of interwar Polish society. At its core, Through and Through explores alienation and the extremes of human behavior in a hostile society. The film's unsettling tone - hypnotic yet unnerving - mirrors the couple's moral ambiguity, refusing easy judgment and instead inviting reflection on systemic failures. Legacy-wise, it cements Królikiewicz as an "artist-theorist" whose innovations in form-content interplay continue to inspire, particularly in portraying marginalized lives. Through and Through remains a provocative testament to cinema's power to unsettle and illuminate, using experimental techniques to unearth the tragedies of human desperation. The Blu-ray elevates this obscure 1973 gem, with a 2K restoration and robust extras, to new accessibility and appreciation, showcasing Radiance Films' commitment to high-quality boutique releases that honor experimental works with deluxe packaging and contextual depth. Fans appreciative of this brand of cinema, or curious cinephiles, are encouraged to indulge. 

Gary Tooze