POLISH FILM ACADEMY

An adaptation of the novel about Łódź during its budding capitalism became Wajda's farewell to the Polish romantic and noble utopia. Tracing the history of a dream of a great fortune coming true, the director presents the naturalistic Baroque synthesis of moral attitudes in a ruthless, vulgar struggle for money. The vision of the film oscillates between realistic reconstruction and Baroque symbolism, combined with detailed descriptions of the industrial giant, where a love of money and ruthlessness in satisfying one’s own cravings goes well below standards of ethics and culturally acceptable behaviour.


Three friends: a Pole − Karol Borowiecki, a German − Max Baum, and a Jew − Moryc Welt, want to set up a textile factory in Łódź. To achieve this goal, they must use different tricks which are required of them  by ruthless Łódź industrialists − the cotton tycoons. After a fire in their newly built spinning mill, they go their separate ways. Karol abandons his noble ideals, breaks his engagement with Anka, and marries Mada, the daughter of the biggest Łódź manufacturer – Mueller – in order to take  over the largest fortune in the town. In the last scene, Borowiecki makes a decision on the textile workers’ strike, issuing orders to shoot in the direction of the crowd.



Jan Słodowski, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996