POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Three harrowing images of war and occupation with modest means of expression and a fairly loose narrative. The young heroes are confronted with a situation that surpasses their experience. Due to these dramatic events they grow up quickly, though this new maturity is sad and painful to bear.


First Story. On the road
September 1939. A soldier whose regiment has been defeated is carrying documents of the office headquarters. They no longer have any meaning, but the soldier is convinced of the importance of his mission. Troops are wandering aimlessly on the back roads, cut off from any communication with the command. Villages are set ablaze. People are shot and killed. On his journey to nowhere the soldier is accompanied by Janek, a boy he met by chance, who is looking for his mother. Both are equally childish, good-natured and naïve, and they both believe that their journey will soon end. Unfortunately, they cross paths with a German armoured column. The soldier, trapped, takes a gun from the wagon and starts shooting. The frightened child runs away.


Second story. A letter from the camp
The Nazi occupation. Three little brothers, Zbyszek, Heniek and Jacek, spend their days in an empty room.
Their father was taken prisoner during the September campaign. Mother keeps going to the country "with the smuggled goods". The father sends a letter from the Stalag. It makes the boys feel better. They cherish the memory of their absent parent. They polish his shoes. The eldest of the brothers, Zbyszek, is instinctively trying to replace his father. He takes care of the younger ones. He also sympathises with prisoners from a nearby camp. He sees them as companions of his own father. One day, a Soviet soldier escapes from the camp. He comes to the apartment of the boys. They give him food, clothing and boots, allowing him to continue his escape. Soon, the nearby camp is liquidated.


Third story. A drop of blood
The Nazis deport all the residents of the Jewish building. Only a girl called Mirka survives. The girl finds a friend of her father − a doctor. But she would not be safe in his apartment. She could put the doctor at risk. She must look for another shelter. She is given a certificate of baptism. She learns Catholic prayers. She goes to a provincial orphanage. Unfortunately, a Nazi committee arrives there to select children for Germanisation. Paradoxically, Mirka’s features are considered a model of Aryan appearance. The girl is taken to the Reich and adopted.

Adam Wyżyński, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996