KANAL

Poland, 1956
Feature Film

At the end of September 1944, during the last days of the Warsaw Uprising, lieutenant Zadra tries to move his unit from Mokotów to Śródmieście. At first they fight on the streets, then they go down into the sewers. The unit includes: Mądry, Zadra’s deputy, cadet Korab, liaison Stokrotka, Smukły, Korab’s deputy, and others. The path leads through successive circles of Dante's hell: poisoned air, excrement, corpses. The only civilian in the unit, the pianist, associates the situation with Dante. The Germans lurk almost at every exit. Zadra struggles with his own thoughts, he does not know whether he leads his people to freedom or to death. Is going back in order to help the wounded a good idea? Only few will reach the exit, and the exit turns out to be a trap. The screenplay was based on the insurgent experiences of Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, a writer and screenwriter. The Screenplay Evaluation Committee debated the film at the headquarters of the Film Studios at 61 Puławska Street, near the entrance to the sewers where Stawiński had fought. The subject of the Warsaw Uprising could not appear on the screen until the thaw period. Andrzej Wajda, the director, and Jerzy Lipman, the cinematographer, combined two styles of imaging: war reportage and apocalyptic drama. With this film, Wajda established the Polish School, a phenomenon that has been recognised at international festivals and in world cinema since the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival (1957).

Director: Andrzej Wajda
Screenplay: Jerzy Stefan Stawiński
DOP: Jerzy Lipman
Editing: Halina Nawrocka
Sound: Józef Bartczak
Music: Jan Krenz
Production Design: Roman Mann
Costume designer: Jerzy Szeski
Make up: Halina Sieńska
Main Cast: Teresa Iżewska (Stokrotka), Tadeusz Janczar (Ens. Jacek "Korab"), Wieńczysław Gliński (Lt. "Zadra")

Production:
"Kadr" Film Production

World Sales:
Documentary and Feature Film Studios