WarDrama

A Generation

Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives. A coming-of-age story of survival and shattering loss, A Generation delivers a brutal portrait of the human cost of war.

Release Date : 1955-01-26

Language :Polish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych we Wrocławiu

Production Country : Poland

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Stanisław Mazur "Bartek"

Original Name : Tadeusz Łomnicki

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ewa "Dorota"

Original Name : Urszula Modrzyńska

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jasio Krone

Original Name : Tadeusz Janczar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sekuła

Original Name : Janusz Paluszkiewicz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jacek (as Ryszard Kotas)

Original Name : Ryszard Kotys

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mundek

Original Name : Roman Polanski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Grzesio

Original Name : Ludwik Benoit

Gender : Male

Character Name : Barkeeper Lola

Original Name : Zofia Czerwińska

Gender : Female

Character Name : Kostek

Original Name : Zbigniew Cybulski

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Guard in a Sawmill

Original Name : Tadeusz Fijewski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Abram

Original Name : Zygmunt Hobot

Gender : Male

Character Name : Coach Driver

Original Name : Cezary Julski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Waldemar Berg

Original Name : Bronisław Kassowski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Priest

Original Name : August Kowalczyk

Gender : Male

Character Name : AK Major

Original Name : Jerzy Krasowski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Carpentry Shop Worker

Original Name : Zenon Laurentowski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Caretaker Krone

Original Name : Stanisław Milski

Gender : Male

Character Name : "Kaczor"

Original Name : Juliusz Roland

Gender : Male

Character Name : Antoniowa

Original Name : Hanna Skarżanka

Gender : Female

Character Name : Ryszard Berg

Original Name : Janusz Ściwiarski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Werkschutz

Original Name : Kazimierz Wichniarz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Meister Ziarno

Original Name : Zygmunt Zintel

Gender : Male

Character Name : Zyzik (uncredited)

Original Name : Ryszard Ber

Gender : Male

Character Name : Szymon (uncredited)

Original Name : Bronisław Dardziński

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alcohol Salesman (uncredited)

Original Name : Kazimierz Dębicki

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gestapo Member arresting Dorota (uncredited)

Original Name : Julian Dziedzina

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Soldier on Patrol (uncredited)

Original Name : Wiesław Gołas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Soldier chasing Jasio on a Staircase (uncredited)

Original Name : Jerzy Gruza

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman leaving Sewers (uncredited)

Original Name : Monika Gutman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Storekeeper (uncredited)

Original Name : Zofia Jamry

Gender : Female

Character Name : SS Soldier (uncredited)

Original Name : Mieczysław Kalenik

Gender : Male

Character Name : Soldier killed by Jasio Krone (uncredited)

Original Name : Bogumił Kobiela

Gender : Male

Character Name : Soldier chasing Jasio Krone (uncredited)

Original Name : Henryk Kucharski

Gender : Male

Character Name : GL Member (uncredited)

Original Name : Kazimierz Kutz

Gender : Male

Character Name : GL Member (uncredited)

Original Name : Jan Machulski

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Soldier on Patrol (uncredited)

Original Name : Franciszek Pieczka

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stach's Neighbor (uncredited)

Original Name : Kazimierz Stankiewicz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gendarme taking part in Dorota's Arrest (uncredited)

Original Name : Henryk Staszewski

Gender : Male

Character Name : GL Member (uncredited)

Original Name : Stanisław Stojko

Gender : Male

Character Name : Worker (uncredited)

Original Name : Janusz Strachocki

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Mieczysław Waśkowski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Franusiowa (uncredited)

Original Name : Danuta Wodyńska

Gender : Female

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Stefan Wroncki

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-09-01

At the height of the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1942, this tells us a story of war with a slightly different slant. It takes up the cudgels of the youth whose innocence was well and truly stripped away by their oppressors and illustrates just how tough it was to grow up in any sort of a natural fashion when guns were everywhere and freedom-fighting the order of the day. That is exemplified here by "Stach" (Tadeusz Lomnicki). He grew up in the Warsaw equivalent of a shanty town, with his mother, and learned to live on a combination of wits and strength. He falls in with some communist resistance fighters at work and that's where he meets "Dorota" (Urszula Modrzynska) whom he begins a relationship with whilst perils mount outside. The killing of an officer by his close friend "Jacek" (Ryszard Kostas) makes matters much more intense and with their enemy now firmly focussed on the group, it becomes even more dangerous and lonely for an increasingly angry and frustrated 'Stach". Andrzej Wajda manages to use the tightly knit cast here to create a drama that's entirely plausible of a society struggling to retain any semblance of it's freedoms and principles in the face of an overwhelming and hostile government. He uses the character of "Stach" cleverly to contrast his vulnerability and, at times even childishness, with his courage and his desires. This also shows us a bit of the enemy of any enemy is my friend philopsohy as people with little in common find themselves (temporarily) allied to combat a common foe safe in the knowledge that each are the other's next foe down the line in due course. Like most of the best films to depict events of WWII, this uses the ordinariness of the people to fight it's corner well. Decent people who were not trained killers, indeed here they are barely out of school, yet they adapt to the wreckage of their city; reduced to huddling in corners or ruins or sewers that are darkly lit and photographed as if these very sets were terrified. This is a tough watch and it tests humanity in many of it's guises as it depicts a sort of hope from hopelessness - but without any danger of rose covered cottages, or cherry pie endings.