Polish film directors still struggle with history of their motherland. The terror of World War II (In Darkness by Agnieszka Holland), Holocaust (The Pianist by Roman Polański), Soviet dictatorship (Rose by Wojciech Smarzowski, Ida by Paweł Pawlikowski) or Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (Aftermath by Władysław Pasikowski and recent Hatred by Wojciech Smarzowski) are being narrated in the Polish cinema nearly every year. Now a new generation tries to tell about those events from their perspective; from non-participant point of view which is sometimes shocking, fetching or disturbing. Jan Komasa with his Warsaw 44 is one of the best representatives.
Stefan (Józef Pawłowski) is a young man who works for a chocolate factory and does little favors for friends from resistance movement. He doesn’t see himself fighting against Nazis, he just tries to keep his mother and a little brother safe, since his dad – a major– didn’t make it back home from the army front. Stefan’s attitude changes when he meets Ala (Zofia Wichłacz), pretty and innocent blonde who’s ready to fight just like others. Conspiracy shortly before outbreak of The Warsaw Uprising seems nearly fun – youngsters are full of energy, courage, they spend a lot of time together and feel unstoppable. Boys and girls believe they can relieve their precious homeland no matter what and the rumors about Russian army approaching with help gives them even more hope (although there are people who doubt that). Stefan joins his peers in conspiracy and experiences all the war cruelty, lack of sympathy, loss of beloved ones…
Why did the movie cause harsh discussions and arouse conflicting opinions? Well, the plot sounds “traditional” and realistic, whereas the movies’ technical side is quite unique. Komasa tries to reach young viewers who are well-versed with new media, that’s why some takes reminds us of computer games (he’s tackled the gaming issue in Suicide Room, 2011). It is best seen when our young movie heroes shoot Germans from some apartment’s windows and among various shots we get a first-person shooter perspective – just a hand operating a weapon. What is more, the director adds some horror genre into this historical feature. And so we have scenes that scares because of their bloody cruelty but also some psychedelic moments, for instance when Ala is nearly being slammed by moving walls in canals, which turns out to be a product of her tormented imagination.
To fan the flames, Jan Komasa uses music video convention. Slow motion, loud music (over-the-top soundtrack; from war time compositions to dubstep) and irreal special effects (curvedly moving bullets) make the diegetic episodes look unnatural, dreamlike. But considering the scale of the Second World War terror, its inhuman character and devastating effect on soldiers and civilians, the horror – oneiric convention looks quite legit. Though for me the aesthetically overblown sex scene will remain controversial forever.
On the other hand, Warsaw 44 presents rich aspects of the traditional historic feature film, such as outstanding scenography of half destroyed Warsaw, (not worse than the one in The Pianist), or costumes from the 30’s and 40’s, make-up perfectly imitating all kinds of scratches, wounds, open sores, etc. Well-planned staging captures the visual scale of the uprising, whereas gaming-like or horror-like takes enriches viewer’s impressions in some kind of emotional, as well as mental, damage in the characters caused by horrific experiences.
In this moment one has to mention acting and the cast. Young actors and actresses (Zofia Wichłacz was 18 on the set*) managed to present true feelings and to naturally show changes in their characters’ personalities which took place in such short period of time. I especially love how realistic are the bonds between Stefan, his mother (Monika Kwiatkowska) and his little brother (Filip Szczepkowski). But the biggest challenge Jan Komasa gave to Józef Pawłowski. The protagonist played by Pawłowski totally collapses. There are moments where he looks like a mannequin, just a human costume devoid of emotions. It may irritate (the viewers long for emotions!) but on the other hand, it could be quite accurate presentation of wartime dehumanization.
Warsaw 44 is another proof there’s always need for movies about non-depletable topic -most tragic event of the XXth century. Young director, Jan Komasa, portraits a complicated feeling between the boy and the girl which cannot fully blossom in the uprising, where love have to struggle with the issues of patriotism, honour, desertion, escape from the doomed city. This is a must-see.
*She was 18 or 19 years old (born in 1995). There’s no information of her exact date of birth in film databases.
- Text editor: Jędrzej Kościński
Polish Cinema Review 
Very good review! It’s been too long since you have posted the last time. Looking forward to reading more ! 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you! It means a lot :))
LikeLike