Berlin International Film Festival 2000

by Andrzej Wajda

"Today more than ever, we need a sense of identity to know where we come from and where we are going," is how Andrzej Wajda explains the astonishing renaissance of historical epics in his homeland. His stunning screen fresco takes us back to Poland in 1811, when Napoleon's Russian campaign stirred hopes of liberation and reunification.

Adam Mickiewicz's famous poem, written while in exile in Paris, put into words his outrage about his countrymen's small-minded feuding. Wajda basically sticks to the text, as it has everything a true national epic has to offer pride, passion, war, exile, homesickness.

Boguslaw Linda (Poland's answer to Bruce Willis) and Daniel Olbrychski are the fascinating protagonists. Wajda regular Olbrychski raves that Wajda "captured the beating of the Polish heart".

Such patriotism must be contagious. When Wajda showed the film to his famous compatriot in the Vatican, he was so moved that he could not hold back the tears.

Gerhard Midding