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| Three War Films - Andrzej Wajda |
| Rather than review each of the three films included here, let me say something about them as a whole, and they are packaged together fo... |
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Three War Films - Andrzej Wajda [DV76273] $55.95
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| by Robert Bezimienny |
Date Added: Friday 15 August, 2008 |
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These films come with high critical acclaim, yet rarely have they screened in local, Sydney, arthouse cinemas, and seldom are they mentioned in the ubiquitous "Top 100" lists: I wondered how to explain this, but having viewed them I think the answer lies in their being admired rather than loved. The admiration is justified in terms of the formal qualities of the films, such as the excellent cinematography, the complex yet coherent story structures, and the charismatic performances elicited from the actors; the lack of unbridled affection is perhaps a reflection of the earnestness underlying the whole process, and the fact that the characters, while in many ways nuanced, can't escape the burden of representing more than themselves, that is to say, being embodiments of 'types' or movements within Polish history.
*
Criterion has provided an excellent treatment. The transfers are terrific. Wajda himself, along with his co-writer Morganstern, and a prominent Polish film critic, Plazewski, provide interviews, filmed in 2003 - there is 90 minutes of this and, while highly illuminating in many details, it also hints at the spirit which leadens the actual films. The weight of history and circumstance is felt by the director, and his peers, and it is hard for them to evade a tone of self-importance - this is well-justified, but still confers a heavy tone to proceedings. Criterion also include an early short of Wajda's and period newsreels and historical matter, and a commentary by a film scholar on Ashes and Diamonds - if sold separately, these would all be premium releases, so they represent good value here.
*
Ashes and Diamonds is billed as the best of the trilogy, and the lead performance by Zbigniew Cybulski is especially lauded. It is set on the night of the German surrender, May 8th, 1945, and the plot is roughly given in the Amazon editorial. In his interview Wajda explains that Cybulski insisted on wearing his own clothes during the film, and on dark glasses - his Maciek looks like a Godard protagonist or, as was the explicit influence, James Dean - initially Wajda resisted this, as he knew such a look was ludicrous historically, but he relented, and now analyses the appeal of the film in terms of Maciek being a figure the youth of the time (1958) could relate to - he was one of them. Interesting, for sure, but distancing too, and possibly a reason why Maciek's fate evokes less emotion from a viewer than it might.
*
There are many instances of overt symbolism in all these films. This can make for indelible images, such as the inverted splintered crucifix in Ashes and Diamonds, or the extended symbolism of the canals in the eponymous film - it can also force one to view the films as political statements, prising one out of a purely aesthetic appreciation - the director does not leave you free to choose how you approach these works.
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As Wajda points out, neither he nor his Polish contemporaries were free to make the films they wanted. Controversy marked the release of each film, and the Communist censors had to be placated. In this light, the implicit strong criticism of the Communist regime, and particularly of the Russian role in allowing the decimation of Warsaw and attendant crushing of the uprising there, is an incredibly brave act. Kanal can easily be read as saying that the Russian 'liberation' forced Poles 'into the sewers', to live in filth and stench, both literal and metaphorical; Ashes and Diamonds suggests that Polish identity was at best left confused, at worst outrightly betrayed, by the importation of Communism from Russia.
*
So all this is an incredibly dense history lesson, laced with multiple ironies, and coded in sometimes arcane, sometimes condescendingly simple, symbolism. The history itself is bleak, and the circumstances in which the films were made ideologically compromised. It is hardly surprising that watching these films is taxing, and that admiration for the enterprise is ready, while love for the experience is less forthcoming.
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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