This movie opens in Poland in 1942, on the outskirts of Warsaw. The opening scene is impressive, starting with a long view of a poverty stricken area and panning about 180 degrees while slowly zooming in on three boys playing a knife-throwing game. One of these boys is the main character, Starch, who provides a voice-over during the scene.
Starch works as an apprentice in a woodworking shop. Very early on the complex political situation is introduced, and that is where things get a little complicated for those not overly familiar with Polish history during the war. One factor to keep in mind is that this film was made during the time that Poland was a Soviet satellite state, so I assume certain restrictions needed to be adhered to in order to get it approved. The so-called "good guys" in this are members of the Soviet backed People's Guard, whose goal was to fight the German occupiers as well as to oppose the Polish resistance movement, a movement loyal to the Polish government in exile. It seems that the Soviets had no desire to see Poland as a free independent state.
The political tensions are played out in the woodworking shop. A communist, Sekula, works in the shop. We know where he is coming from when he says to Starch, "You work eight hours for the price of one. There once was a wise bearded man by the name of Karl Marx. He once wrote that workers were paid just barely enough to renew their strength." Starch is naive and aimless, so he is taken in by Sekula and a pretty young female Communist and joins their group. There are also members of the Polish resistance movement in the shop. They are represented here as bad guys. Then there is Jasio who works in the shop. He is conflicted--basically he wants to stay out of it and just do his job, but he is drawn to act. It is interesting that he is the first person in the group to kill a German.
The acting is pretty pedestrian. The black and white cinematography is quite good; there are a lot of dark shots with only faces lighted. The overall feel is of film noir.
A good part of the movie is played out against the backdrop of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. One outstanding scene has the conspirators talking while at a carnival that is just outside the ghetto walls, with smoke coming from the ghetto in the background.
For someone, like myself, who has meager knowledge of Polish history during WWII, this film helps (although I wonder if the glorification of the Communists was exaggerated). I think that I could spend several days researching the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
This is a film for those who bemoan the preponderance of shallow entertainments in contemporary movies.
Starch works as an apprentice in a woodworking shop. Very early on the complex political situation is introduced, and that is where things get a little complicated for those not overly familiar with Polish history during the war. One factor to keep in mind is that this film was made during the time that Poland was a Soviet satellite state, so I assume certain restrictions needed to be adhered to in order to get it approved. The so-called "good guys" in this are members of the Soviet backed People's Guard, whose goal was to fight the German occupiers as well as to oppose the Polish resistance movement, a movement loyal to the Polish government in exile. It seems that the Soviets had no desire to see Poland as a free independent state.
The political tensions are played out in the woodworking shop. A communist, Sekula, works in the shop. We know where he is coming from when he says to Starch, "You work eight hours for the price of one. There once was a wise bearded man by the name of Karl Marx. He once wrote that workers were paid just barely enough to renew their strength." Starch is naive and aimless, so he is taken in by Sekula and a pretty young female Communist and joins their group. There are also members of the Polish resistance movement in the shop. They are represented here as bad guys. Then there is Jasio who works in the shop. He is conflicted--basically he wants to stay out of it and just do his job, but he is drawn to act. It is interesting that he is the first person in the group to kill a German.
The acting is pretty pedestrian. The black and white cinematography is quite good; there are a lot of dark shots with only faces lighted. The overall feel is of film noir.
A good part of the movie is played out against the backdrop of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. One outstanding scene has the conspirators talking while at a carnival that is just outside the ghetto walls, with smoke coming from the ghetto in the background.
For someone, like myself, who has meager knowledge of Polish history during WWII, this film helps (although I wonder if the glorification of the Communists was exaggerated). I think that I could spend several days researching the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
This is a film for those who bemoan the preponderance of shallow entertainments in contemporary movies.