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A Generation
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Wikipedia article
'A Generation' is a 1955 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the novel 'Pokolenie' by Bohdan Czeszko, who also wrote the script. It was Wajda's first film and the opening installment of what became his Three War Films trilogy set in the Second World War, to be followed by 'Kanal' and 'Ashes and Diamonds'.Niemtz and Steinberg, 2016: ...famous war trilogy...
Plot
'A Generation' is set in Wola, a working-class section of Warsaw, in 1942 and tells the stories of two young men at odds with the German occupation of Poland. The young protagonist, Stach (Tadeusz omnicki), is living in squalor on the outskirts of the city and carrying out wayward acts of theft and rebellion.
After a friend is killed attempting to heist coal from a German supply train, he finds work as an apprentice at a furniture workshop, where he becomes involved in an underground communist resistance cell. He is guided first by a friendly journeyman there, who in turn introduces Stach to the beautiful Dorota (Urszula Modrzyska). An outsider, Jasio Krone (Tadeusz Janczar), the temperamental son of an elderly veteran, is initially reluctant to join the struggle but finally commits himself, running relief operations in the Jewish ghetto during the uprising there.
Cast
* Tadeusz omnicki as Stach Mazur
* Urszula Modrzyska as Dorota
* Tadeusz Janczar as Jasio Krone
* Janusz Paluszkiewicz as Sekua
* Ryszard Kotys as Jacek (credited as Ryszard Kotas)
* Roman Polanski as Mundek
Production
The first film of Wajdas famous war trilogy, 'A Generation', was his debut directorial effort at age twenty-seven.Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016 Under the influence of the Italian neorealists,Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016: A Generation was inspired by Italian neorealism, well-acted and directedwith extreme situations and dramatic choices under conditions of war.Michalek, 1973 p. 18: In 1954 Italian neo-realism was making a triumphant passage through Polish cinemas, and Wajda has acknowledged its influence Wajda and his production team routinely shot outdoor sequences in less than optimal light and weather conditions, violating earlier Polish production precepts. Wajda recalled:
Because at the time it wasn't possible to adapt machine guns to shoot blanks, all shots of automatic weapons were done with live ammunition shot into sandbags off-screen.'On Becoming a Filmmaker' interview with Andrzej Wajda included with Criterion release of 'A Generation'
A Polish film production executive reviewing the completed film was troubled by some of the brutal depictions of violence, and additionally, that the hero is portrayed as a disaffected proletariat.Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016: ...the film shows young, often teenage men and women faced with extreme situations and dramatic choices under conditions of war. Despite these objections, 'A Generation' was approved for release. It opened in Warsaw on January 25, 1955.Michalek, 1973 p. 22: ...among the objections were the choice of a lumpenproletariat hero And: The picture opened on January 25, 1955.
Critical Assessment
Though Wajda would soon be recognized as a leading figure in the Polish Film School, the reaction to his debut picture was generally cool. The influence of neorealism was widely noted disapprovingly as a departure from Polish orthodox cinematic treatments."Michalek, 1973 p. 22: Reviews were attentive but cool. And: Neo-realism alien to Polish emotional context.Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016: he was a driving force behind the movement later known as the Polish Film School.
Bohdan Czeszkos autobiographical novel Pokolenie, on which the film is based, concerns his activity in the armed resistance associated with the communist Polish Workers Party (PPR) against Nazi occupation forces during World War II. Wadja, a member of the PPR since 1948, had at the time of his application to the d Film School in 1950 declared: Beside talent and a sense of reality, a film director must have a Marxist attitude towards life and art.Niemetz and Steinberg, 2016: In 1948, he joined the ruling Stalinist PPR (Polish Workers Party). And see here for Wajda quote in his application to the d Film School.
Historians Dorata Niemitz and Stefan Steinberg write:
Biographer Boleslaw Michalek notes that in one of the tenants of the late Stalinist era 'A Generation' depicts Polish nationalists collaborating almost overtly with the German occupiers. He adds:
DVD
A box set of the Three War Films was released by The Criterion Collection. 'A Generation' includes an exclusive interview with the director and film critic Jerzy Paewski, as well as Wajda's 1951 film school short 'Ceramics from Ia' ('Ceramika Iecka'), production photos, publicity stills, posters, and original artwork by the director and an essay by film scholar Ewa Mazierska.
Footnotes
Sources
*Michalek, Boleslaw. 1973. 'The Cinema of Andrzej Wajda.' The Tanvity Press. A. S. Barnes and Company. New York.
*Niemitz, Dorata and Steinberg, Stefan. 2016. 'Polish film and theatre director Andrzej Wajda dead at 90.' World Socialist Web Site, 14 October, 2016. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/10/14/wajd-o14.html Retrieved 04 July, 2022.
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