starring Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyżewska, Wacław Zastrzeżyński
directed by Andrzej Wajda
103 minutes
in Polish with English subtitles
Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski) is part of a team of three men sent to kill Szczuka (Wacław Zastrzeżyński), a corrupt politician, just as World War 2 is coming to an end. The team kills the wrong man. They are given orders to correct their mistake but Maciek starts to have second thoughts after he meets and falls in love with Krystyna (Ewa Krzyżewska).
Andrzej, the leader of the team, doesn't care about Maciek's personal life and presses him to finish the job regardless of what else he has going on in his life. Drewnowski, the third member of the team, has political aspirations. He dreams go down the drain as he makes a fool out of himself at a banquet thrown by the town's mayor.
Torn between duty and love Maciek chooses duty.
Thoughts
This film is based on the 1948 novel of the same name. It was visually stunning with many beautifully framed shots. It was, aside from that, an interesting watch. I feel as thought there was much that slipped past me with out fully registering. There are a number of lesser characters and subplots that I had trouble following, that felt as though they were there to represent other things that were going on in Poland at the end of the war.
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