This film is set on the last day and night of WWII in Europe. Poland is liberated from the tyranny of Nazi Germany and falls into the hands of Joseph Stalin. At the time the Poles were not sure what this meant but they feared the worst. The end of the war, of course, meant something quite different for Poland than it did for France or England. The "liberation" of Poland was just another invasion and occupation and the Resistance shifted targets from Nazis to Polish communists and in doing so went from heroes of Poland to criminals.
The story follows Maciek, a young Resistance fighter. His assignment is to assassinate a Polish Communist leader who is in town for a banquet to celebrate the end of the war and his subsequent promotion. It's a long night with lots of drinking, reminiscence, hopes and fears for the future and the unexpected crises of confidence that conflicts our protagonist, Maciek. He falls for the beautiful young barmaid at the hotel and for the first time sees a different life for himself and questions what he is about to do. A heavy feeling of impending doom hangs over the film as the fates of people and a country are in doubt. Into this the director weaves some comical characters and a tragic romance. Good stuff.
The look of the film is very expressionist as opposed to the neorealism which was a common style of directors in Europe at the time. The ideal was American Film Noir which the director was a big fan of – The Asphalt Jungle being his favorite. The entire hotel was built and lit artificially so they could create the look and feel they wanted. And, there were a lot of very artistic, purely visual effects and what some might call overly expressionist scenes: a drunken polonaise at sunrise, an upside down crucifix in a bombed out church, a white horse wandering into the frame in a scene in the hotel courtyard. Beautifully photographed in shadowy black and white, this film succeeds as a work of art on every level.
The film is based on a book that depicted the assassination target, Szczuka, as the sympathetic figure. And, really, he's not a bad guy. However the director went the other way and made a minor character in the book (Maciek) the lead player. The role was played by one of the leading young actors in Poland, Zbigniew Cybulski. The director let Cybulski keep his trademark long hair and dark glasses even though he knew no WWII resistance fighter looked like that. Even though the Party watchdogs made sure Maciek's ultimate fate was punctuated (in another overly expressionist scene), the Polish movie going public perceived the film as it was intended and Maciek was seen as the hero. Too late to censor the movie in Poland, they were determined to not let it get out of Poland. They were successful in stopping it from going to Cannes but a Party Minister relented and let it go to the Venice Film Festival, allowing it to be seen "out of competition." It won the Grand Prize anyway, Cybulski became the James Dean of Poland and the Party Minister was fired (at the very least). The film is considered one of the greatest films in Polish cinema. 10/10.
The story follows Maciek, a young Resistance fighter. His assignment is to assassinate a Polish Communist leader who is in town for a banquet to celebrate the end of the war and his subsequent promotion. It's a long night with lots of drinking, reminiscence, hopes and fears for the future and the unexpected crises of confidence that conflicts our protagonist, Maciek. He falls for the beautiful young barmaid at the hotel and for the first time sees a different life for himself and questions what he is about to do. A heavy feeling of impending doom hangs over the film as the fates of people and a country are in doubt. Into this the director weaves some comical characters and a tragic romance. Good stuff.
The look of the film is very expressionist as opposed to the neorealism which was a common style of directors in Europe at the time. The ideal was American Film Noir which the director was a big fan of – The Asphalt Jungle being his favorite. The entire hotel was built and lit artificially so they could create the look and feel they wanted. And, there were a lot of very artistic, purely visual effects and what some might call overly expressionist scenes: a drunken polonaise at sunrise, an upside down crucifix in a bombed out church, a white horse wandering into the frame in a scene in the hotel courtyard. Beautifully photographed in shadowy black and white, this film succeeds as a work of art on every level.
The film is based on a book that depicted the assassination target, Szczuka, as the sympathetic figure. And, really, he's not a bad guy. However the director went the other way and made a minor character in the book (Maciek) the lead player. The role was played by one of the leading young actors in Poland, Zbigniew Cybulski. The director let Cybulski keep his trademark long hair and dark glasses even though he knew no WWII resistance fighter looked like that. Even though the Party watchdogs made sure Maciek's ultimate fate was punctuated (in another overly expressionist scene), the Polish movie going public perceived the film as it was intended and Maciek was seen as the hero. Too late to censor the movie in Poland, they were determined to not let it get out of Poland. They were successful in stopping it from going to Cannes but a Party Minister relented and let it go to the Venice Film Festival, allowing it to be seen "out of competition." It won the Grand Prize anyway, Cybulski became the James Dean of Poland and the Party Minister was fired (at the very least). The film is considered one of the greatest films in Polish cinema. 10/10.