Kanal

original title:
Kanal
other titles:
Canal, They Loved Life, (Der Kanal)
country / year of production:
original length:
95 min. , black/white
premiere:
20 April 1957
based on:
Jerzy Stefan Stawinski. Godzina "W". Wegrzy. Kanal. Warszawa: Pa´nstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1956.
director:
producer:
cinematographer:
composer:
more:
plot synopsis:
Warsaw, September 1944. The last week of Warsaw's uprising against the Germans has begun. After desperate battles amidst the ruins Lieutenant Zadras platoon counts llittle more than 40 men and women. Zadra receives the order to retreat through the sewer system. Although they consider their retreat a sign of defeat they agree to follow the order. Wading in waist-deep filth they try to find their way through the underground labyrinth. But whereever they attempt to get out, german snipers already wait for them. In the darkness of the underworld their battle for ideals turns into a struggle for mere survival.
literature:
Andrzej Wajda. Ashes and diamonds. Tree films (Modern film scripts; 38). London: Lorrimer, 1973.
remarks:
Second part of Wadjas World War Two triology following "Pokolenie" (A Generation, 1954) and preceding "Popiol I diament" (Ashes and Diamonds, 1958).

Wins the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957.
availability:
VHS NTSC, DVD