Creeping authoritarianism. Teetering democracy. Dangerous political leadership.
No, I’m not talking about the U.S. of A. but the centuries of sadness which is synonymous with the historically chopped-up country of POLAND.
Specifically, the 24-hour period (May 8-9, 1945) during which this film takes place and the year it was made — 1958.
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Josef Stalin’s death in 1953 ushered in a period which is sometimes referred to as the “Stalinist thaw.” The ground was still pretty frozen, but a few sprigs were sprouting up in both the Soviet Union and its satellites. Shostakovich enraged the dictator with his Ninth Symphony (1945) which — instead of a paean to the glorious victory of The Patriotic War — was a lighthearted, short jokey affair. He saved the good stuff for his Tenth (1953), which at the same time as dealing with the tragedy of the war, also included a biting satirical portrait of the madman.
The Polish October (1956) ushered in a period of astonishing artistic freedom for Polish artists — a mere three years after the death of Josef Stalin — we get the outrageously cutting-edge music of Penderecki and Lutoslawski, and a trilogy of war films from the young Andrzej Wajda. [The first two were A Generation (1955) and Kanal (1957), about the Warsaw resistance.]
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Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski) and Andrzej (Adam Pawlikowski) have made a big mistake. In one of the many striking scenes in this film (influenced by Citizen Kane), Andrzej is on the phone with his superior — Major Florian (Ignacy Machowski). The mistake must be corrected, but not before Wajda shows us the three important characters in deep focus — Andrzej in the foreground on the phone; Maciek desperately trying to get Andrzej’s attention and the survivor of the mistake in the far background, Szczuka (Waclaw Zastrzezynski).
Maciek — looking so cool in his sunglasses (a result of spending so much time in the Warsaw sewers, he casually informs us) — is the central character. He represents the anti-Communist freedom fighter, but Communism and the Communists (along with the aristocracy) all saddle up to the bar together. [Wajda had the censors so confused that they passed the film (to much subsequent consternation) after a few rounds of vodka.]
Drewnowski (Bogumil Kobiela) — the aide to the mayor, Swiecki (Aleksander Sewruk) — seems to be swinging on the hinges of the door between the two sides. He had big prospects for advancement with the Communists, but blows it all by purposefully getting stinking drunk at the big banquet he was supposed to be organizing. His transformation of a fire extinguisher to a gun is one of the more hilarious moments in the film.
Last, but certainly not least, is the gorgeous Krystyna (Ewa Krzyzewska). She is all women, confounding the men’s political work by intense, focused love. In the end, Maciek is obviously much more interested in her than any political theatre.
But alas …
Cybulski
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Author: Lewis Saul
