Saturday 10 October 2026 20:45
languages : vostFR locations : Théâtre des Capucins
Credits
synopsis
In a small Polish town on the final day of World War II, Maciek, a fighter in the underground anti-Communist resistance movement, has orders to assassinate an incoming commissar. But when he meets and falls for a young barmaid, he begins to question his commitment to a cause that requires him to risk his life.
Considered by many to be the greatest Polish film ever made, and by most to be Wajda’s finest work, it was his first film after the thaw. Despite being the culmination of his thematically connected ‘war trilogy’, it was free of the proscriptive shackles of social realism that been imposed on the previous entries by Soviet control. Instead, Wajda was able to fully flex his storytelling muscles, crafting a poetic and deeply symbolic work that explored the dualities of the postwar national psyche and energised the industry.
BFI
Cybulski speaks for a new, younger disaffected generation, reassessing its past and uncertain of its future. In this complex and beautiful film, Wajda finds a way to lucidly express confusion and capture the soul of a people constantly trapped by the forces of history.
Senses of Cinema
