*Small spoilers included.
For the first time in years, I left the cinema physically stunned. My heart raced and my eyes watered. This is a masterpiece.
The depiction of the 'Good Russian' was a very clever touch, and avoided making the film too one-sided or nationalistic.
And at last, this film explains to the world what Catholicism means to Poles: it is not just some medieval fanaticism, it is the only thing they had to keep them going through the lies and genocide of history.
As a British man of Polish descent I connected with the film in a personal way and understood all of the historical references with ease.
But I do fear that many of the references in the film will be lost on non-Polish audiences. Certainly, British and American knowledge of the history of Eastern Europe is generally bad. Wajda knows this. Just a couple of lines of dialogue could have been used from time to time to explain the Russo-Polish war of 1921, or the Polish partisan activity 1945-1949, or how and why some Poles joined the Soviet forces in 1943. Wajda drops these facts in as if the audience is only Polish and will understand immediately. I wish Wajda could have tailored it slightly more to the international audience, as this is an important film for the Polish nation and Polish emigrant communities to communicate with the rest of the world.
Hollywood frequently discusses the Jewish Holocaust. Again, Wajda knows this, and he could have taken the opportunity to at least touch on the subject to set the record straight. Polish Catholic prejudice against Judaism exists, just as prejudice exists in every country in the world. But there were many more Polish Jews saved by Polish Catholics than were harmed by them. There were Jews in the Polish army who felt Polish first, Jewish second, and strictly anti-Soviet. In this film, showing a Polish Jew as one of the victims of Katyn would have shown that Polish Jews and Catholics were more often than not united against the Soviets and Nazis.
But the main point, just as with the 'Good Russian', is that it doesn't matter about your identity. There are good and bad people in the world, opportunistic or moral, liars or honest, cowards or heroes. And they can be any race, colour or creed. Eventually, the opportunists, liars and cowards lose the fight. For me, that is the message of Katyn.
For the first time in years, I left the cinema physically stunned. My heart raced and my eyes watered. This is a masterpiece.
The depiction of the 'Good Russian' was a very clever touch, and avoided making the film too one-sided or nationalistic.
And at last, this film explains to the world what Catholicism means to Poles: it is not just some medieval fanaticism, it is the only thing they had to keep them going through the lies and genocide of history.
As a British man of Polish descent I connected with the film in a personal way and understood all of the historical references with ease.
But I do fear that many of the references in the film will be lost on non-Polish audiences. Certainly, British and American knowledge of the history of Eastern Europe is generally bad. Wajda knows this. Just a couple of lines of dialogue could have been used from time to time to explain the Russo-Polish war of 1921, or the Polish partisan activity 1945-1949, or how and why some Poles joined the Soviet forces in 1943. Wajda drops these facts in as if the audience is only Polish and will understand immediately. I wish Wajda could have tailored it slightly more to the international audience, as this is an important film for the Polish nation and Polish emigrant communities to communicate with the rest of the world.
Hollywood frequently discusses the Jewish Holocaust. Again, Wajda knows this, and he could have taken the opportunity to at least touch on the subject to set the record straight. Polish Catholic prejudice against Judaism exists, just as prejudice exists in every country in the world. But there were many more Polish Jews saved by Polish Catholics than were harmed by them. There were Jews in the Polish army who felt Polish first, Jewish second, and strictly anti-Soviet. In this film, showing a Polish Jew as one of the victims of Katyn would have shown that Polish Jews and Catholics were more often than not united against the Soviets and Nazis.
But the main point, just as with the 'Good Russian', is that it doesn't matter about your identity. There are good and bad people in the world, opportunistic or moral, liars or honest, cowards or heroes. And they can be any race, colour or creed. Eventually, the opportunists, liars and cowards lose the fight. For me, that is the message of Katyn.