Kanal (1957)

September, 1944. It's the 56th day of Warsaw's uprising against the Nazis. The third Platoon of the Resistance is down to 43 heroic men and women, and they're penned in. After a last day of... See full summary »

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writers:

Jerzy Stefan Stawinski (screenplay), Jerzy Stefan Stawinski (story)

Stars:

Teresa Izewska, Tadeusz Janczar, Wienczyslaw Glinski

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Teresa Izewska	...	Stokrotka
Tadeusz Janczar	...	Ens. Jacek 'Korab'
Wienczyslaw Glinski	...	Lt. 'Zadra'
Tadeusz Gwiazdowski	...	Sgt. 'Kula'
Stanislaw Mikulski	...	Smukly
Emil Karewicz	...	Lt. 'Madry'
Vladek Sheybal	...	Michal 'Ogromny', the composer (as Wladyslaw Sheybal)
Teresa Berezowska	...	Halinka
Zofia Lindorf	...	Old woman looking for her daughter
Janina Jablonowska	...	Woman
Maria Kretz	...	Wounded Woman
Jan Englert	...	Zefir
Kazimierz Dejunowicz	...	Capt. 'Zabawa'
Zdzislaw Lesniak	...	Maly
Maciej Maciejewski	...	Lt. 'Gustaw'

Storyline

September, 1944. It's the 56th day of Warsaw's uprising against the Nazis. The third Platoon of the Resistance is down to 43 heroic men and women, and they're penned in. After a last day of fighting, and of good-byes to family, to love making, and to music, a handful of doomed survivors wade into the city's underground sewers in hopes of escape. Their valor is tested a final time.

---

Plot Keywords:

warsaw uprising | sewer | uprising | ruins | escape | 

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish German

Release Date:

20 April 1957 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Canal

Filming Locations:

Dluga, Sródmiescie, Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zespól Filmowy "Kadr"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A lot of the film's crew members took part in the 1944 Warsaw uprising (e.g. cinematographer Jerzy Lipman or actor Tadeusz Janczar). Screenwriter Jerzy Stefan Stawinski used the sewers during the uprising in order to get from the southern district of Mokotów to the city center. As he said in an interview, each character in the film has at least one equivalent of a real-life insurgent he was acquainted with.

---

Quotes

Halinka: It's easier to die when you're in love.

---

Connections

Featured in The Lesson of Polish Cinema (2002)

User Reviews

Fatalism in Post-war Poland

I saw this film in a film festival in Dhaka, in early sixties(Now Bangladesh, then East Pakistan). For me as a student, Sattayjit Ray's Apu trilogy was my only exposer to any kind of art film then. Visual realism was a new thing for us in Indian sub continent. Audience were so spellbound that they could smell sewage sitting in the cinema hall. I think like all great directors, Wajda had the cinematographic sense to create that environment where viewers reality could blend with creative fiction. In post war period of late forties and in early fifties like the School of Polish Posters, all creative mediums went through this fatalistic phase. It was grotesque but realistic.