Andrzej Wajda's War Trilogy

Box Set (Limited Edition)

Running Time: 280

Genre: Feature, Foreign

Certificate: 12

Language: Polish

Subtitles: English

Triple bill of Polish war dramas directed by Andrzej Wajda. In 'A Generation' (1955) a young man (Tadeusz Lomnicki) decides to fight against the Nazis after falling for a pretty Resistance leader. His first mission is to assist escapees during the Warsaw uprising, but his early teenage enthusiasm turns sour as the war progresses. In 'Kanal' (1957) the Poles in Warsaw descend into the sewers to escape the Nazis. Journeying through the 'Kanal', the psychological pressures to which they are subjected as an oppressed race result in outpourings of extreme emotion, from generosity of spirit to pettiness and fear. Finally, in 'Ashes and Diamonds' (1958), on the day the war ends, young Nationalist underground member Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski), who has remained steadfastly loyal to the British government throughout the Nazi occupation, is ordered to kill the new local Communist leader. His outlook is changed as he waits overnight in a hotel when he meets and falls in love with a young girl (Ewa Krzyzanowska).