SHOULD I READ IT? A Generation (1955)

 

                        “A Generation” is a Polish war film by the acclaimed director Andrzej Wadja.  It was his debut.  He followed it with “Kanal” (1956) and “Ashes and Diamonds” (1958).  More recently, he made “Katyn” (2007).  “A Generation” deals with the Polish resistance in Warsaw during WWII.  It is not a landmark film, but it did have a landmark technical development.  It is the first movie to use squibs to simulate bullet wounds.  The process was invented by Kazimierz Kutz.  He used condoms filled with fake blood and dynamite.  So now whenever you see a war movie made after 1955 in which wounds come with no bullet hole and no blood, you can say WTF?

                        The movie opens with a 360 degree panning shot followed by a tracking shot.  It becomes more intimate as it arrives at the main character.  The first cut does not come until the 4:26 mark.  This was Wadja’s debut!  Stach (Tareusz Lomnicki) and his buddies board a moving train to steal coal.  One is shot and killed by a German soldier.  Stach is living in poverty in a working class neighborhood in Warsaw.  He gets a job as an apprentice in a furniture factory.  A worker named Sekula introduces him to communism.  “There once was a wise, bearded man – his name was Karl Marx.”  He introduces him to Dorota (Urszula Midrzynska).  She recruits him for a resistance group called The People’s Guard.  They begin a romance, which is a bit strange because she is beautiful and yet has no other suitors.  The cell gets involved in the Warsaw Uprising. 

                        If you are a fan of Polish war movies or of Wadja, this is a must-see.  Or if you want to see the first use of squibs.  Otherwise, you might want to skip it and move straight to “Kanal” which is a much better movie and the best of the trilogy.  You might also want to see it if you are going to film school.  The cinematography is the best reason to watch it.  Besides the bravura opening, you get long cuts, deep focus, and lingering shots.  Wadja is one of the most mesmerizing film-makers.  What the film misses is logical story-telling.  The plot is weak.  One would assume Wadja has a soft spot for the resistance, but the movie portrays the characters as either naïve or incompetent.  Stach is allowed into the cell with no background check, but this is typical for a unit that puts no value on security.  Stach kills a German officer in the midst of numerous eye-witnesses.  But then again, there are no consequences, so maybe the Germans are just as incompetent.  In fact, the Germans are not demonized.  Perhaps Wadja was trying to make a realistic portrayal of regular people playing resistance.  The movie is certainly not a tribute to the Polish resistance.  Stach is not an appealing hero.  At age 28, Lomnicki was too old for the part.  His romance with Dorota is simplistic.  The acting is just average.

GRADE =  C