A Generation

A Generation

1955 · 87 min · ★ 6.9 · War, Drama

Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives.

Directed by Andrzej Wajda · Written by Bohdan Czeszko

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Criterion Channel

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 3m together

A Generation

Kanal

Both from Andrzej Wajda.

More from Andrzej WajdaSee all →

Schindler's ListSchindler's List · 1993
Schindler's List
★ 8.61993
MovieDramaHistory
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
Ziemia obiecanaZiemia obiecana · 1978
Ziemia obiecana
★ 8.01978
Series
Tokyo OlympiadTokyo Olympiad · 1965
Tokyo Olympiad
★ 7.71965
MovieDocumentary
This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive events. Highlights include an epic pole-vaulting match between West Germany and America, and the final marathon race through Tokyo's streets. Two athletes are highlighted: Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila, who receives his second gold medal, and runner Ahamed Isa from Chad, representing a country younger than he is.
KanalKanal · 1957
Kanal
★ 7.61957
MovieWarDrama
In the last few days of the Warsaw Uprising during World War II, a modest group of Resistance members remains. The band must take refuge in the sewers under the orders of leader Zadra, but it's only a matter of time before they will have to emerge. However, when they try, they are met only with intense hostility from the Nazis. Despite their attempts stay resolute through immense mental strain, it becomes increasingly apparent that they may be doomed.
Ashes and DiamondsAshes and Diamonds · 1958
Ashes and Diamonds
★ 7.41958
MovieDramaWar
A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.
The Promised LandThe Promised Land · 1975
The Promised Land
★ 7.41975
MovieDramaHistory
At the turn of the century, Lodz, Poland, was a quick-paced manufacturing center for textiles, replete with cutthroat industrialists and unsafe working conditions. Three young friends, a Pole, a Jew, and a German, pool their money together to build a factory.
The WeddingThe Wedding · 1973
The Wedding
★ 7.31973
MovieDramaFantasy
Set at the turn of the century, the story concerns a Polish poet living in Cracow who has decided to marry a peasant girl. The wedding is attended by a heterogenous group of people from all strata of Polish society, who dance, get drunk and lament Poland's 100-year-long division under Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The bridegroom, a painter friend, and a journalist each in turn is confronted with spectres of Polish past.
InterrogationInterrogation · 1989
Interrogation
★ 7.11989
MovieDramaThriller
In Stalinist Poland, cabaret singer Tonia decides to spend the evening drinking with a group of friends. The next morning, she awakes to find that, for reasons unknown to her, she has been jailed as a political prisoner. As prison officials interrogate, torture and humiliate her, she fights for survival and to maintain her innocence by refusing to sign a false confession. As her years of imprisonment pass, her relationship with her captors grows more complicated.
Screen TwoScreen Two · 1985
Screen Two
★ 7.11985
SeriesDrama
Series of single made-for-television dramas.
Innocent SorcerersInnocent Sorcerers · 1960
Innocent Sorcerers
★ 7.01960
MovieRomanceComedy
A young doctor is tired of being sought by women. One night he meets a young girl who all but forces herself into his room where they talk of morals and love.
Man of IronMan of Iron · 1981
Man of Iron
★ 7.01981
MovieDramaHistory
In Warsaw in 1980, the Communist Party sends disgruntled radio reporter Winkel to Gdańsk to dig up dirt on the shipyard strikers - particularly on Maciek Tomczyk, an independent labour union leader whose father was killed in the December 1970 protests. Posing as sympathetic, Winkel interviews the people surrounding Tomczyk, including his detained wife, Agnieszka.
The Third Part of the NightThe Third Part of the Night · 1972
The Third Part of the Night
★ 7.01972
MovieWarDrama
Set during the Nazi occupation of Poland, the story follows Michał, who witnesses the murder of his mother, wife and child and then is hurled into a life that literally is not his own; a surreal world littered with trapdoors, doppelgängers and wormholes.
As the Years Go By, As the Days Go By...As the Years Go By, As the Days Go By... · 1980
As the Years Go By, As the Days Go By...
★ 7.01980
SeriesDrama
Created to mark the 60th anniversary of Poland's regained independence, Andrzej Wajda's acclaimed seven-hour stage production As the Years Go By, As the Days go By... follows two Kraków families between 1874 and 1914.
Broken SilenceBroken Silence · 2002
Broken Silence
★ 7.02002
SeriesDocumentary
“Broken Silence” is composed of five hourlong shorts from a quintet of international directors: Hungary’s Janos Szasz (“Eyes of the Holocaust”), Argentina’s Luis Puenzo (“Some Who Lived”), Russia’s Pavel Chukhraj (“Children From the Abyss”), the Czech Republic’s Vojtech Jasny (“Hell on Earth”) and Poland’s Andrzej Wajda (“I Remember”). The helmers, some descendants of Holocaust survivors, focus on the atrocities within their particular parts of the world, with testimonials, pictures and an overall tone as they pertain to each region’s culture and history.
DantonDanton · 1983
Danton
★ 6.91983
MovieDramaHistory
Danton and Robespierre were close friends and fought together in the French Revolution, but by 1793 Robespierre was France's ruler, determined to wipe out opposition with a series of mass executions that became known as the Reign of Terror. Danton, well known as a spokesman of the people, had been living in relative solitude in the French countryside, but he returned to Paris to challenge Robespierre's violent rule and call for the people to demand their rights. Robespierre, however, could not accept such a challenge, even from a friend and colleague, and he blocked out a plan for the capture and execution of Danton and his allies.
Without AnesthesiaWithout Anesthesia · 1978
Without Anesthesia
★ 6.81978
MovieDrama
A famous Polish journalist presents a problem for the powers-that-be when he displays his full political skill and knowledge on a television show featuring questions and answers on a world conference by a panel of journalists. His enemies take away his privileges when he is away. The shock of being "unwanted" parallels a deeper disappointment in his private life: his wife has an affair with a jealous young rival, and after 15 years of marriage and two daughters wants a divorce. She offers no explanations as he tries to untie these problems himself. All the moves he makes are the wrong ones. He takes on drinking heavily with students eager to attend his seminar after discovering the class has been canceled. The journalist, once suave and commanding, is reduced to silence.

More Like This

The Child in TimeThe Child in Time · 2018
The Child in Time
★ 5.82018
MovieTV MovieDrama
A successful writer of children's books, Stephen Lewis is confronted with the unthinkable—he loses his only child, four-year-old Kate, in a supermarket. In one horrifying moment that replays itself over the years that follow, Stephen realises his daughter is gone. Kate's absence sets Stephen and his wife on diverging paths as both struggle with an all-consuming grief.
The Teacher Who Promised the SeaThe Teacher Who Promised the Sea · 2023
The Teacher Who Promised the Sea
★ 7.72023
MovieDramaHistory
The buried memories of the Spanish Civil War are unearthed as a woman searches for the remains of her grandfather's father and discovers the story of an idealistic young teacher from Tarragona.
Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now · 1979
Apocalypse Now
★ 8.31979
MovieDramaWar
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.
Absolute PowerAbsolute Power · 1997
Absolute Power
★ 6.71997
MovieCrimeDrama
A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder—in which the President of the United States is involved—occurs in front of his eyes. He is forced to run, while holding evidence that could convict the President.
Forrest GumpForrest Gump · 1994
Forrest Gump
★ 8.51994
MovieComedyDrama
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.
Citizen KaneCitizen Kane · 1941
Citizen Kane
★ 8.01941
MovieMysteryDrama
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
MetropolisMetropolis · 1927
Metropolis
★ 8.11927
MovieDramaScience Fiction
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
FreaksFreaks · 1932
Freaks
★ 7.81932
MovieDramaHorror
A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
All Quiet on the Western FrontAll Quiet on the Western Front · 1930
All Quiet on the Western Front
★ 7.81930
MovieDramaWar
When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.
Wings of DesireWings of Desire · 1987
Wings of Desire
★ 7.81987
MovieDramaFantasy
Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon · 2000
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
★ 7.42000
MovieAdventureDrama
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
The 400 BlowsThe 400 Blows · 1959
The 400 Blows
★ 8.01959
MovieDrama
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.
Let Me Eat Your PancreasLet Me Eat Your Pancreas · 2017
Let Me Eat Your Pancreas
★ 7.02017
MovieDramaRomance
A dying girl meets a nonchalant boy who found out her secret. She decided to fulfill her bucket list with none-other-than the boy who couldn't care less about the world.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter