Polish Film Chronicle 59/52AB

Peasant Diaries

A film meant to show what people were told to believe about the wonderful lives that Polish peasants led in post-war Poland.

The Stars Must Burn

The year 1953 ends. Mines that failed to fulfil the plan are not allowed to light their star. Socialist realism treated seriously – with the memory of the mining tradition, with respect for the work of the old, with hope for the young.

Young Art

In October 1949, when socialist realism was imposed on Polish artists, a presentation of the achievements of art schools took place in Poznań. The report of the event called ‘shows’ was made by students of the Film School in Łódź.

A Fairy Tale

A recording of the performance of the symphonic poem entitled Fairy Tale by Stanislaw Moniuszko at the ‘Ursus’ Factory in Warsaw. It took place in 1952 and was performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Witold Rowecki.

Passenger

A German woman on a ship returning to Europe notices a face of another woman which brings recollections from the past. She tells her husband that she had been an overseer in Auschwitz during the war, but she has actually saved a woman's life.

Science Closer to Life

Modern work tools are created thanks to the development of science, as a result of the transfer of knowledge between generations. A review of the tradition of Polish science from the times of Nicolaus Copernicus to the establishment of the Polish Academy of Sciences. [35mm online]

Eroica

Tells two tales set during WWII: A seemingly feckless and selfish man finally takes up arms in the national struggle against the Nazis. Set in a POW camp, Polish inmates cling to their hopes for an eventual escape, encouraged by the legendary escape of one of their own.

Man on the Tracks

One night in 1950 a passenger train runs over a man, who turns out to be the veteran train engineer Władysław Orzechowski, know for his old ways and stern demeanor. As the inquiry panel tries to deduce why would a man like Orzechowski jump in front of a moving train several of the people involved in the case are interrogated, each telling their own version of the story. Can the panel arrive at the truth in a world where workers unite, inferior coal is a badge of honor, and the old order is suspect?

Bad Luck

To convince the prison warden against releasing him, a middle-aged Polish man recounts his life, one he considers to have been characterized by exceptionally bad luck.

Sunday Morning

Short propaganda film. Warsaw's post-war reconstruction as seen through the eyes of the passengers of a red bus.

A Walk in the Old City of Warsaw

A young music student strolls through Warsaw’s Old Town as the city’s everyday sounds—children, traffic, machinery, music, and passing jets—shift from background noise into a spontaneous outdoor concert.

A Railwayman's Word

A documentary about the hard work of railwaymen transporting coke from Tarnowskie Góry to Szczecin Iron works.

Men of the Blue Cross

The final film produced by Warsaw’s Documentary Film Studio is an epic re-enactment of a treacherous mission by the Voluntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service to aid colleagues stranded behind enemy lines at the close of World War II (several real participants feature in the film). Based on a short story about the rescue by Adam Liberak, Munk’s final “documentary” is also arguably his first major exercise in the craft of narrative filmmaking.

Destination - Nowa Huta!

This documentary describes the process of building and the first days of the combine and the city of Nowa Huta. Andrzej Munk realizes the postulates of socialist realism decreed in Polish cinematography in 1949.

Con bravura

Originally, Munk intended Eroica to be a triptych with Con bravura being the first part, but he ultimately gave up on this film, deeming it weaker artistically than the two counterparts. Con bravura is about conspiracy conflating the paths of a rather unconventional nun and an intrigued young man – each of them bears secrets and the encounter could incite a flaming romance, though one suffocated by war.Munk set the film in the mountain capital of Zakopane and its vicinity, allowing breathtaking views from a cable car and using his experiences of the Nazi occupation in the area to add gritty reality. The director plays a cameo as a priest with several of his industry friends also making appearances.