A Generation
Directed by	Andrzej Wajda
Written by	Bohdan Czeszko
Starring	Tadeusz Łomnicki Urszula Modrzyńska Roman Polanski
Release date(s)	January 25, 1955 (Poland release)
Running time	83 min
Language	Polish
IMDb profile

A Generation (Polish: Pokolenie) is a Polish film released in 1955, directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the novel Pokolenie by Bohdan Czeszko, who also wrote the script. This is Wajda's first film and the opening installment of his Three War Films trilogy set against the second World War, which is completed by Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Andrzej Wajda, Warsaw (Poland), May 2006 Andrzej Wajda (born March 6, 1926) is a Polish film director, one of the most prominent members of the Polish Film School. ... Tadeusz Łomnicki (1927-1992) was a Polish actor, one of the most notable stage and film artists of his time in Poland. ... Urszula ModrzyÅ„ska in a Polish film Nikodem Dyzma (1956) Urszula ModrzyÅ„ska (* February 23, 1928 in Srebrniki, Poland) is a Polish stage and film actress. ... Roman Polanski (born Raymond Liebling, August 18, 1933 in Paris) is an Academy Award-winning Franco-Polish film director, writer, actor and producer. ... is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... // Directors Józef Arkusz StanisÅ‚aw Bareja Aleksander Ford Wojciech Has Agnieszka Holland Jerzy Hoffman Jerzy Kawalerowicz Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski -- The Three Colors trilogy, The Decalogue Jan Jakub Kolski Kazimierz Kutz Juliusz Machulski Andrzej Munk Marek Piwowski Roman PolaÅ„ski Ladislas Starevich Wladyslaw Starewicz Andrzej Wajda Krzysztof Zanussi Andrzej Zulawski... // Events November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts. ... Andrzej Wajda, Warsaw (Poland), May 2006 Andrzej Wajda (born March 6, 1926) is a Polish film director, one of the most prominent members of the Polish Film School. ... Three War Films is the title of Andrzej Wajdas trilogy of anti-war films: A Generation, Kanal, and Ashes and Diamonds. ... Kanal is a Polish film released in 1956, directed by Andrzej Wajda for P.P. Film Polski at its production unit, Zespol Filmowy Kadr. “Watch them closely, for these are the last hours of their lives,” announces the disembodied voice of a narrator, foreshadowing the tragedy that unravels... Popiół i diament (English: Ashes and Diamonds) is a 1958 film directed by Polish film director, Andrzej Wajda, based on the novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski. ...

Synopsis

A Generation is set in Wola, a working-class section of Warsaw, in 1942 and tells the stories of two young men at odds with the Nazi occupation of Poland. The young protagonist, Stach (Tadeusz Lomnicki), is living in squalor on the outskirts of the city and carrying out wayward acts of theft and rebellion. After a friend is killed attempting to heist coal from a German supply train, he finds work as an apprentice at a workshop, where he becomes involved in an underground communist resistance cell guided first by friendly journeyman there who in turn introduces Stach to the beautiful Dorota (Urszula Modrzynska). An outsider, Jasio Krone (Tadeusz Janczar), the temperamental son of an elderly veteran, is initially reluctant to join the struggle but finally commits himself, running relief operations in the Jewish ghetto during the uprising there. The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Motto: Contemnit procellas (It defies the storms) Semper invicta (Always invincible) Coordinates: , Country  Poland Voivodeship Masovia Powiat city county Gmina Warszawa Districts 18 boroughs City Rights turn of the 13th century Government  - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO) Area  - City 516. ... Tadeusz Łomnicki (1927-1992) was a Polish actor, one of the most notable stage and film artists of his time in Poland. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

Cast

• Tadeusz Łomnicki as Stach Mazur
• Urszula Modrzyńska as Dorota
• Tadeusz Janczar as Jasio Krone
• Janusz Paluszkiewicz as Sekula
• Ryszard Kotys as Jacek (credited as Ryszard Kotas)
• Roman Polanski as Mundek

Tadeusz Łomnicki (1927-1992) was a Polish actor, one of the most notable stage and film artists of his time in Poland. ... Urszula Modrzyńska in a Polish film Nikodem Dyzma (1956) Urszula Modrzyńska (* February 23, 1928 in Srebrniki, Poland) is a Polish stage and film actress. ... Roman Polanski (born Raymond Liebling, August 18, 1933 in Paris) is an Academy Award-winning Franco-Polish film director, writer, actor and producer. ...

Analysis

On its face, the film is a coming-of-age story of survival and shattering loss, delivering a brutal portrait of the human cost of war. But as with all of Wajda's films, Polish history and the individual's struggle in the face of crushing political circumstances are just below the surface. In A Generation, as in Ashes and Diamonds, the conflict between the communists and the nationalist Home Army, each representing a diametrically opposed view of Poland's future, are set on a collision course. For Stach, his work for the resistance is part of a larger class war and the struggle for communism. For other meanings of Home Army see: Home Army (disambiguation) The Armia Krajowa or AK (Home Army) functioned as the pre-eminent underground military organization in German-occupied Poland, which functioned in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ...

DVD

A box set of the Three War Films were released by the Criterion Collection (Criterion release No. 282). A Generation (No. 283) includes: Three War Films is the title of Andrzej Wajdas trilogy of anti-war films: A Generation, Kanal, and Ashes and Diamonds. ... The Criterion Collection is a joint venture between Janus Films and The Voyager Company that was begun in the mid 1980s for the purpose of releasing authoritative consumer versions of classic and important contemporary films on the laserdisc and DVD formats. ...

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer
• Andrzej Wajda: On Becoming a Filmmaker, an exclusive interview with the director and film critic Jerzy Plazewski
• Ceramics from Ilza (Ceramika Ilzecka), Wajda’s 1951 film school short
• Behind-the-scenes production photos, publicity stills, posters, and original artwork by the director
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• An essay by film scholar Ewa Mazierska

Trivia

• Because blanks at the time did not provide recoil, all shots of automatic weapons were done with live ammunition shot into sandbags off screen.^[1]

References

See also

• Cinema of Poland
• List of Polish language films
• List of Criterion Collection releases

// Directors Józef Arkusz Stanisław Bareja Aleksander Ford Wojciech Has Agnieszka Holland Jerzy Hoffman Jerzy Kawalerowicz Krzysztof Kieślowski -- The Three Colors trilogy, The Decalogue Jan Jakub Kolski Kazimierz Kutz Juliusz Machulski Andrzej Munk Marek Piwowski Roman Polański Ladislas Starevich Wladyslaw Starewicz Andrzej Wajda Krzysztof Zanussi Andrzej Zulawski... There are two lists of Polish language films: Organized alphabetically by Polish title Organized alphabetically by title of English release Alphabetical by Polish title Kanał Lotna Pokolenie Zemsta Ziemia Obiecana Alphabetical by title of English release See also Polish film school Categories: Lists of films | Polish films ... The Criterion Collection has released or announced the future release of the following films on DVD. The list number corresponds to the spine number of the title, which roughly corresponds to the release order, although this can sometimes vary due to outside factors involving a titles production (for example...

External links

• A Generation at the Internet Movie Database
• Criterion Collection essay by Ewa Mazierska