They Loved Life

35 mmORCS15
Director:Andrzej Wajda
Premiere:31. July 1964
Length:91 minutes
Genre:War, Drama

They Loved Life

Kanał; Andrzej Wajda, 1957, versions: OR,CS, languages: deu, pol

Carte blanche: Milan Černák

Director: Andrzej Wajda • Kameraman: Jerzy Lipman • Actors: Tadeusz Janczar, Teresa Iżewska, Wienczyslaw Glinski, Stanislaw Mikulski, Emil Karewicz, Vladek Sheybal, Jan Englert, Kazimierz Kutz, Roman Polanski, Władysław Kowalski, Ryszard Filipski, Adam Pawlikowski, Maciej Maciejewski • Scenario: Jerzy Stefan Stawiński

This, the very first film made about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising during which 200,000 died, captures the uprising’s last days when the German Army are overrunning one rebel position after another. When the Polish resistance fighters led by Lieutenant Zadra find escape routes cut off, their only remaining option is to descend into the city’s sewers and fight for their lives until the bitter end. The hopelessness of their heroic fight mirrors the Polish nation’s traumatic war experience. The screenplay of this iconic film was written by Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, who witnessed events at first-hand. The film won the Special Jury Award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and became one of the first Eastern Bloc films to receive international success beyond the Iron Curtain.

Length: 91 min

Year: 1957
Local premiere date: 31. July 1964

Country of origin:

  • Poland

Language version:

OR - Original version (german, polish)
CS - Czech subtitles

Carte blanche: Milan Černák

Director: Andrzej Wajda • Kameraman: Jerzy Lipman • Actors: Tadeusz Janczar, Teresa Iżewska, Wienczyslaw Glinski, Stanislaw Mikulski, Emil Karewicz, Vladek Sheybal, Jan Englert, Kazimierz Kutz, Roman Polanski, Władysław Kowalski, Ryszard Filipski, Adam Pawlikowski, Maciej Maciejewski • Scenario: Jerzy Stefan Stawiński

This, the very first film made about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising during which 200,000 died, captures the uprising’s last days when the German Army are overrunning one rebel position after another. When the Polish resistance fighters led by Lieutenant Zadra find escape routes cut off, their only remaining option is to descend into the city’s sewers and fight for their lives until the bitter end. The hopelessness of their heroic fight mirrors the Polish nation’s traumatic war experience. The screenplay of this iconic film was written by Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, who witnessed events at first-hand. The film won the Special Jury Award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and became one of the first Eastern Bloc films to receive international success beyond the Iron Curtain.

Year: 1957
Local premiere date: 31. July 1964

Country of origin:

  • Poland

Language version:

OR - Original version (german, polish)
CS - Czech subtitles