"Landscape After Battle": This excellent Polish film was shown in its home country in 1970 (but only released in the United States in 1978 by New Yorker Films), one of an impressive resume by the Academy Award-winning director Andrzej Wajda, who was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999, an honor that was well-deserved, highlighted by among other great films such as "Man of Iron" (1981) and "Katyn" (2007). Several of the previous reviewers said that Wajda's talent can only be appreciated if you are Polish; NOT true! Instead, his work shows how mainstream European films are, by and large, head and shoulders among contemporary American output.
"Landscape After Battle" begins on the snowy day a Nazi concentration camp is liberated by American troops in 1945. Personally, I found the use of Antonio Vivaldi's "Winter" movement from "The Four Seasons" to be a stroke of genius; it never would have occurred to me to utilize it within the score, and it works in the scene! Also, bravo to Mr. Wajda for actually filming winter scenes in winter . . . proved by seeing the actors' breath while filming outdoors! It strikes me that he didn't much go in for fake stuff, which American directors don't seem much bothered about.
The plot is simple: a sarcastic prisoner, Tadeusz (brilliantly portrayed by Daniel Olbrychski, cynical in the style of the late James Dean), whose passions are books and writing poetry, begins a tentative relationship with a mysterious girl (Stanislawa Celinska), first seen at a huge outdoor mass celebrated by visiting church hierarchy. The script is multi-layered with statements about Poland's national pride, its fervent Catholicism (90-plus % of the population professes to be practicing believers), the unwillingness to forgive, and fear of Communism, and the supporting cast is populated by a varied assortment of interesting characters. The protagonist, Tadeusz, prides himself on being an outsider, and there is not a false note in Olbrychski's performance; it is difficult to not take your eyes off him. Supporting in a moving portrayal is actor Zygmunt Malanowicz, who made an impressive debut as the young hitchhiker, catalytic in provoking the strained marriage in Roman Polanski's first feature, "Knife in the Water" (Oscar nominee, Best Foreign Language Film, 1963). Malanowicz plays the young priest with a sense of intense sadness, especially regarding the degrading parading of a German thief (female) in front of her mob of accusers, and in the final scene with Tadeusz at film's end, describing an atrocity he witnessed first-hand in the camp. In my opinion, Malanowicz is among the best of Poland's acting community, and this performance is first-rate.
The exquisite color photography by Zygmunt Samosiuk is masterfully beautiful, some of the best I've ever seen in cinema, particularly the beginning winter frolic by the freed prisoners, and the conversation among the striking colors of the autumn woods between the young couple. Samosiuk makes great use of the countryside's natural beauty . . . even something as commonplace as the wheat fields. Many of the shots are breathtaking. Also, the use of hand-held cameras to derive a sense of spontaneity and intimacy at certain points is very effective.
The film is controversial and upsetting but, considering the facts on which it is based, these attributes work in Wajda's favor. One is supposed to be shaken and there are lasting impressions left. I would highly recommend "Landscape After Battle" as a must-see experience for serious audiences who appreciate important European filmmaking.
