KANAL FILMS. 4 EDITIoN decides to lead a rescue party which ultimately breaks through the Producer: Stanislaw Adler; screenplay: Jerzy Stefan Stawinski, frontier barrier and arrives at the gates of the French mine to the from a short story by Jerzy Stawinski; photography: Jerzy Lipman astonishment of the waiting and despairing relatives. ""Les Allemands. art directors: Roman Mann and Roman Wolzniec: music: Jan Ce n'est pas possible. The rest of the film is concerned with Krenz, ocarina theme by Adam Pawlikowski. Pabst has stamped the exterior and interior of the mine with uncompromising realism. The people are the protagonists, and ind- Teresa lzewski(Stokrotka); Emil Karewicz(Madry) Wldysta Sheybal vidual characters never leave the ambience which shapes them and to Composer): Tadeusz Gwiazdowski(Kula); Stanislaw Mikulski(Slim) which they bel Emo Metzner, Pabst has achieved a triumph of studio construction. Teresa Berezowska(Halinka): Adam Pawlikowski( German officer) Life in the mine and the terror of the disaster are translated into film terms that remain unforgettable. No music is used. The noises of the Award: Cannes Film Festival, Special Prize, 1957 ne, the clanking of chains, metal rubbing against metal, the hiring sounds of lifts-all this brings the strange world of the miner vividly before the spectator. It is a shared and illuminated experience Pabst's great humanity shines through the film. Its technical virtuos- Publications ity is no less. Wagner's camera catches the light shining in darkness, follows the ravaged, terrified faces. It gives significance to darkness. Script There is no plot as such. Human relations are hinted at. But the mine disaster leaves us in no doubt as to those relationships: Francoise Stawinski, Jerzy Stefan, Kanal, in Three Films by Andrzej Wajda, and her lover: The old man and his grandson; The three German New York. 1973 friends. All are people we know, and from the event Pabst creates a richly textured canvas of life and reality Faces haunt us. The hysterical miner, tap tapping a signal on metal Books pipe, who hears the guttural sounds of his German rescuer wearing a gasmask; he thinks he is back in the war and hurls himself on his Rhode, Eric, Tower of Babel: Speculations on the Cinema, New rescuer. Anna dragging her child beside the lorry that carries her husband to the dangers of rescue work. The actors do not play in this Geduld, Harry M, editor, Film Makers on Filmmaking, Bloomington, film; they are embedded in it. Indiana. 1967 he technical problems of creating movement in a narrow space McArthur, Colin, editor, Andrzej Wajda: Polish Cineme n,1970 were superbly overcome, as were the problems of proportioning light Michatek, Boleslaw. The Cinema of Andrzej Wajda,London, 1973 dark areas. But above all it is the great spirit of Pabst that is the real Stoil. Michael Jon Cinema bevond the Danube. The Camera and triumph of the film. Politics, Metuchen, New Jersey, 1974. Sadly, as the miners celebrate their new found friendship-"Why Leihm, Mira, and Antonin Liehm, The Most Important Art: east must we cooperate only at times of disaster. Why not every day below ground the brick wall which was smashed to allow the german European Film After 1945, Berkeley, 1977 Douin, Jean-Luc, Wajda, Paris, 1981 rescuers through is rebuilt with much official rubber-stamping and paul. David W. editor. Politics, Art, and Commitment in the Eastem exchanging of documents. A new shadow was falling on the Ger European Cinema, New York, 1983 Wajda, Andrzej, Un Cinema nomme des 1986. Wajda, Andrzej, Wajda on Film: A Notes. Los Ange -Liam OLeary les,1989 Wajda, Andrzej, Double Vision: My Life in Film, New York, 1989 article KANAL Wajda, Andrzej, Destroying the Commonplace, in Films and (Canal) Filming(London), November 196 Higham, Charles, "" Grasping the Nettle: The Films of Andrzej Poland. 1957 Wajda, in Hudson Review(New York), Autumn 1965 Wajda Issue of Etudes Cinematographiques(Paris), no 69-72, 1968. Hauru, A,"Kanal-kirottujen tie, in Filmihullu(Helsinki), Director: Andrzej wajda Holloway, Ronald, in Variety(New York), 5 September 1979 Production: Film Polski and ZAF, black and white, 35mm; running Wajda Issue"of Avant-Scene du Cinema(Paris), 1 January 1980 time: 95 minutes, some sources list 97 minutes; length: 8569 feet. Andrzej Wajda, in Village Voice(New York), 20 December 1981 Released April 1957. Filmed 1957 in Poland. Andrzej Wajda, in Current Biography Yearbook, New York, 1982. 624KANAL FILMS, 4th EDITION 624 decides to lead a rescue party which ultimately breaks through the frontier barrier and arrives at the gates of the French mine to the astonishment of the waiting and despairing relatives. ‘‘Les Allemands. Ce n’est pas possible.’’ The rest of the film is concerned with the rescue. Pabst has stamped the exterior and interior of the mine with uncompromising realism. The people are the protagonists, and indi￾vidual characters never leave the ambience which shapes them and to which they belong. With the brilliant cooperation of his designer, Ernö Metzner, Pabst has achieved a triumph of studio construction. Life in the mine and the terror of the disaster are translated into film terms that remain unforgettable. No music is used. The noises of the mine, the clanking of chains, metal rubbing against metal, the whirring sounds of lifts—all this brings the strange world of the miner vividly before the spectator. It is a shared and illuminated experience. Pabst’s great humanity shines through the film. Its technical virtuos￾ity is no less. Wagner’s camera catches the light shining in darkness, follows the ravaged, terrified faces. It gives significance to darkness. There is no plot as such. Human relations are hinted at. But the mine disaster leaves us in no doubt as to those relationships: Françoise and her lover; The old man and his grandson; The three German friends. All are people we know, and from the event Pabst creates a richly textured canvas of life and reality. Faces haunt us. The hysterical miner, tap tapping a signal on metal pipe, who hears the guttural sounds of his German rescuer wearing a gasmask; he thinks he is back in the war and hurls himself on his rescuer. Anna dragging her child beside the lorry that carries her husband to the dangers of rescue work. The actors do not play in this film; they are embedded in it. The technical problems of creating movement in a narrow space were superbly overcome, as were the problems of proportioning light in dark areas. But above all it is the great spirit of Pabst that is the real triumph of the film. Sadly, as the miners celebrate their new found friendship—‘‘Why must we cooperate only at times of disaster. Why not every day’’— below ground the brick wall which was smashed to allow the German rescuers through is rebuilt with much official rubber-stamping and exchanging of documents. A new shadow was falling on the Ger￾man people. —Liam O’Leary KANAL (Canal) Poland, 1957 Director: Andrzej Wajda Production: Film Polski and ZAF; black and white, 35mm; running time: 95 minutes, some sources list 97 minutes; length: 8569 feet. Released April 1957. Filmed 1957 in Poland. Producer: Stanisław Adler; screenplay: Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, from a short story by Jerzy Stawiński; photography: Jerzy Lipman; art directors: Roman Mann and Roman Wołzniec; music: Jan Krenz, ocarina theme by Adam Pawlikowski. Cast: Wieńczysław Gliński (Lt. Zadra); Tadeusz Janczar (Korab); Teresa Izewski (Stokrotka); Emil Karewicz (Madry); Włdysła Sheybal (Composer); Tadeusz Gwiazdowski (Kula); Stanisław Mikulski (Slim); Teresa Berezowska (Halinka); Adam Pawlikowski (German officer). Award: Cannes Film Festival, Special Prize, 1957. Publications Script: Stawinski, Jerzy Stefan, Kanal, in Three Films by Andrzej Wajda, New York, 1973. Books: Rhode, Eric, Tower of Babel: Speculations on the Cinema, New York, 1967. Geduld, Harry M., editor, Film Makers on Filmmaking, Bloomington, Indiana, 1967. McArthur, Colin, editor, Andrzej Wajda: Polish Cinema, London, 1970. Michatek, Boleslaw, The Cinema of Andrzej Wajda, London, 1973. Stoil, Michael Jon, Cinema Beyond the Danube: The Camera and Politics, Metuchen, New Jersey, 1974. Leihm, Mira, and Antonin Liehm, The Most Important Art: East European Film After 1945, Berkeley, 1977. Douin, Jean-Luc, Wajda, Paris, 1981. Paul, David W., editor, Politics, Art, and Commitment in the Eastern European Cinema, New York, 1983. Wajda, Andrzej, Un Cinéma nommé désir, Paris, 1986. Wajda, Andrzej, Wajda on Film: A Master’s Notes, Los Ange￾les, 1989. Wajda, Andrzej, Double Vision: My Life in Film, New York, 1989. Articles: Wajda, Andrzej, ‘‘Destroying the Commonplace,’’ in Films and Filming (London), November 1961. Higham, Charles, ‘‘Grasping the Nettle: The Films of Andrzej Wajda,’’ in Hudson Review (New York), Autumn 1965. ‘‘Wajda Issue’’ of Etudes Cinématographiques (Paris), no. 69–72, 1968. Hauru, A., ‘‘Kanal—kirottujen tie,’’ in Filmihullu (Helsinki), no. 2, 1979. Holloway, Ronald, in Variety (New York), 5 September 1979. ‘‘Wajda Issue’’ of Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), 1 January 1980. ‘‘Andrzej Wajda,’’ in Village Voice (New York), 20 December 1981. ‘‘Andrzej Wajda,’’ in Current Biography Yearbook, New York, 1982