Kanał: A Most Extraordinary Anti-War Film.
Released: 1957
Dir.: Andrzej Wajda
First time viewing reaction.
A few days ago, I had never heard of the Polish film Kanał, and now I can’t forget it. Which is a good thing. The film is about a nightmare, but not the nightmare of our dreams. This nightmare is real, it’s a nightmare about war. It is also, in a way, a horror film.
In late September 1944 the Warsaw Uprising is in its final days, as German forces crush the Polish Resistance Forces, who had been trying to liberate the city for the past two months. One of the resistance units, led by Lt. Zadra (Weinczyslaw Glinski) is trapped in the ruins of southern Warsaw, with 43 soldiers and civilians. With their numbers dwindling, the Germans poised to finish them off, Zadra is ordered to retreat to the cities centre. The only escape route is through the city sewers, the Kanał (pronounced Kan-aw) of the title.
Zadra’s force, now down to 27 able-bodied and walking wounded, set out at night for the sewers. Their guide is Daisy (Teresa Izewska), who knows the sewers well, but she also must care for the wounded Janek Korab (Tadeusz Janczar), the unit’s most capable fighter as well as Daisy’s lover. Daisy assures Zadra that the tunnels are easy to navigate and should not have any trouble finding the agreed exit point.
However, the group quickly becomes separated, Daisy and Korab falling behind, Madry (Emil Karewicz), Halinka (Teresa Berezowska) and Michal (Vladek Sheybal), become disoriented by gas and become hopelessly lost, and Zadra and the main group also lose their way without Daisy. Members of Zadra’s group are destined to be further separated. Madry is Zadra’s second in command and Halinka is the units’ messenger as well as Madry’s lover. Michal is a composer who is desperately trying to get home to his wife and family, having received news that they have been swept up by the German encirclement.
The environment of the tunnels is worse than can be imagined as the various groups wade through, sometimes chest deep water polluted with human waste. The tunnels are claustrophobic, and the enemy is suspiciously absent as the threat of gas is constantly present. It would be easy to make the symbolic connection of the tunnels being the bowels of Hell, however in my opinion this is not a Hell of biblical or symbolic proportions, this is a completely man-made Hell, and this is where to bulk of the film resides.
I was very uneasy watching, but it’s a film I couldn’t take my eyes off. My experience with European war films of this era is very limited, and I wasn’t quite prepared for what I was watching. However, it occurred to me the difference between European war films and American war films of this period. Most Hollywood films were victory oriented, even inspiring in a way, where in Europe almost every country was decimated in some way, and the films reflect that. Hollywood war films of the 50s were never this filthy, profanity laden, or nearly as profound. Kanał is the horror of war.
Screenwriter Jerzy Stefan Stawinski adapted his own story, from his experiences with the Polish Underground Forces, basing characters on real individuals as well as events. Director Andrzej Wajda also served with the Underground Forced during the war, making this one of the rawest and shocking films about war that I have ever seen. It will take a while to shake this one off.
In Kanał there is little hope, but there is determination. The most important aspect being what human beings in desperate situations will do to survive, even if the chance of success turns out to be zero. A nightmare we can wake up from, but the nightmare portrayed in this film, there is no waking up. It is quite literally a decent into madness, as one by one, souls are eroded.
This film is Wajda’s second in his war trilogy, and is a must see, the others being A Generation (1955) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958). I will certainly be seeking them out.
Kanał is available for streaming on the Criterion Channel.
