Kanal (1957)
- Starring:
- Wienczyslaw Glinski, Teresa Izewska, (more)
- Director(s):
- Andrzej Wajda
- Category:
- War
Member Rating
My RatingSynopsis of Kanal
The second of Polish director Andrzej Wajda's WWII trilogy, following Pokolenie (A Generation) and preceding Popiol I diament (Ashes and Diamonds), Kanal is the most physically harrowing of the set. Based on the experiences of Jerzy Stefan Stawinski, a Polish patriot who participated in the battle for Warsaw in 1939 as an 18-year-old and in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, the action takes place in the last week of the 63-day Uprising, as the Nazis hunt down what few freedom fighters remain. A band of Poles takes to the sewers in hopes of escaping, but they become disoriented by the darkness and the fumes of the waist-deep filth. Whenever the Poles try to emerge for orientation or relief, the Germans are there to greet them with a hail of bullets. Kanal was Wajda's coming-out film; it won two prizes at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival and clicked with both European and American audiences, in spite of its grueling story and pessimistic tone. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 96 mins
Complete Cast of Kanal
- Wienczyslaw Glinski - Lieutenant 'Splinter'
- Tadeusz Janczar - Corporal Korab
- Wladyslaw Sheybal - Composer
- Teresa Izewska - 'Daisy'
- Emil Karewicz - 'Wise'
- Stanislaw Mikulski - 'Slim'
- Director(s):
- Andrzej Wajda
- Writer(s):
- Jerzy Stefan Stawinski, Roman Mann, Roman Wolyniec
- Producer(s):
- Stanislaw Adler
- Categories:
- War
- 1957 - Cannes Film Festival - Special Jury Prize
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