Kanał

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Taylor L I don't think Andrzej Wajda likes war very much. Kanał is not a very happy movie, but the Warsaw Uprising was not a very happy time. The German military, knowing that the end of the conflict (and their defeat) was lurking on the horizon, fought street by street against Polish resistance forces, leveling the city and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the process while the Red Army waited patiently at the city limits. Wajda presents the victims of this extermination campaign as patriots that slowly devolve in the hellish landscape of filth that they're forced into, as a small group of resistance fighters attempt to retreat deeper into Warsaw via the fetid sewer system. The group slowly dissipates and fractures, with one or two breaking off as the war above (real or imagined) slowly gets to them, until by the end they find themselves alone and mentally broken. No Victorian ideals of honor in combat, the industrialized and effecient nature of a new war has no place for those. Cramped and suffocating, Kanał is a vicious wartime film that uses relatively few bullets to convey the horrors of war, and it's beautifully shot even if most of it takes place in darkness and shit. A bleak masterpiece in human desperation and unyielding cruelty. (4/5) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review william k Brilliantly staged and photographed, this tough and intense war drama compels with its director's sure hand in delivering his message, which is quite dark, nearly nihilistic. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Another brilliant study of futility of war from Andrzej Wanda. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review andrey k A great movie. The metaphorical representation of Dante's hell is mind-blowing. This film clearly influenced Andrei Tarkovsky with its metaphysical themes and slow tracking shots. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This atmospheric film set in the sewers during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Similar to Rossellini's 'Rome, Open City' the film has a docu-drama feel to it lending the film great authenticity. Due to Wajda's masterful direction, the film transcends the war thriller genre and divulges into more existential aspects of war and at times harnesses an almost supernatural feel. The film has the renowned 'Polish film school' of the 1950s trademark brilliance in cinematography and as with other Wajda films is amalgamated with symbology. Although some of the acting may seem dated it can be forgiven as this style of overplaying parts was quite common at the time. The film doesn't quite reach the same brilliance as Wajda's subsequent film 'Ashes and Diamonds' but is still a film that cineastes must see. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member The Polish resistance is trapped in the Warsaw ghetto trying to survive the Nazi onslaught during the genocide of the ghetto. As a last desperate resort they are given orders to retreat through the sewers. Can they survive? Nightmarish, intense and harrowing is this searing, extremely brutal film that gets a 100% critics approval rating from Polish director Andrzej Wajda. YES, it's a masterpiece but can you stomach it ? Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Kanał

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