POLISH FILM ACADEMY

An attempt to address the issue of war in the most realistic aesthetics, devoid of symbols and metaphors. The mythology of the Polish School is reduced to the everyday awareness of a simple man and approached with bitter irony.

The action for all parts is set during World War Two.

Part I. The cross

A regular soldier with the plebeian surname of Socha, nicknamed Wyskrobek, acts heroically in a fight. He receives the Cross of Valor and the rank of Corporal, which he flaunts. A few days of leave allow him to return to his home village. Socha travels with the air of a winner, but finds only charred rubble when he arrives. A demented old man cannot even tell him what had happened and who had burned the village and its inhabitants.

Part II. The dog

While roaming the area behind the front lines, Polish soldiers find a thoroughbred German shepherd, a homeless dog from a Nazi death camp. Their paths repeatedly cross with the dog’s. One soldier feeds the animal a piece of bread, while another wants to shoot “the Nazi helper”, but simple human instinct wins over such impulses.

Part III. The widow

A small town in the Recovered Territories where soldiers from the same detachment have settled. Slowly, the life of this micro-society is organised. The most respected person is the young widow of a heroic commander, Captain Joczys. The woman falls in love with a young stranger, who is not, however, accepted. Wiecek decides to leave the hostile town, but the widow also leaves with him.

Jan Słodowski, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996