FILMS. 4 EDITIoN KANAL Kanal Lewis, Clifford, and Carroll Britch, "Andrzej Wajdas War Trilogy commentary which presents the individual characters: "These are the A Retrospective, in Film Criticism(Meadville, Pennsylvania), main heroic tragedies. Watch them closely; these are the last hours of Spring 1986. their lives. It is from this point of view that we see the unfoldin Bukoski, A, "'Wajda's Kanal and Mrozek's Tango, ' in Literature/ story of one group of fighters who are no longer able to hold off the Film Quarterly(Salisbury, Maryland), no. 2, 1992 enemy and must retreat through underground sewers. The film is structured in two parts which differ from one another in heir use of cinematic techniques. The first part is documentary in nature. It acquaints the viewer with the heroes and briefly conveys something of their lot before the Uprising. The follows them Kanal, Andrzej wajdas second film, is based on a story by Jerzy through everyday situations: they prepare their food, shave, make Stefan Stawinski which appeared in the magazine Tworczose. The love, and talk about their loved ones and about their past. The effects events of the story are drawn from the writer's personal experience. of the war are ever present as these apparently everyday moments Stawinski had taken part in two battles for Warsaw, as an 18-year-old occur amid the ruins of the city where not a single house has been left in 1939 and then in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 standing. The war itself intrudes only with occasional explosions and purposely renounced any possibility of producing an small-scale attacks. This relative quiet is expressed through long exhaustive chronicle of the Uprising or commemorative poem on the takes, tracking shots and the use of only a minimum of detail. The heroic insurgents. His approach to examining this event was different. actual tragedy commences only after the group has withdrawn under From the outset he limited himself to the time in which the story itself ground. There is also a change in the style of representation, which is set. The Uprising lasted 63 days, and he followed his heroes from takes on an expressive eloquence; the lighting changes, there are more the fifty-seventh day, just a few days and nights before the Uprising contrasts of light and dark, the camera focuses on the heroes in detail. was suppressed. Defeat is present in the film from the introductory the sequences of reality alternate with scenes that have symbolicFILMS, 4 KANAL th EDITION 625 Kanal Lewis, Clifford, and Carroll Britch, ‘‘Andrzej Wajda’s War Trilogy: A Retrospective,’’ in Film Criticism (Meadville, Pennsylvania), Spring 1986. Bukoski, A., ‘‘Wajda’s Kanal and Mrozek’s Tango,’’ in Literature/ Film Quarterly (Salisbury, Maryland), no. 2, 1992. *** Kanal, Andrzej Wajda’s second film, is based on a story by Jerzy Stefan Stawiński which appeared in the magazine Twórczość. The events of the story are drawn from the writer’s personal experience. Stawiński had taken part in two battles for Warsaw, as an 18-year-old in 1939 and then in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Wajda quite purposely renounced any possibility of producing an exhaustive chronicle of the Uprising or commemorative poem on the heroic insurgents. His approach to examining this event was different. From the outset he limited himself to the time in which the story itself is set. The Uprising lasted 63 days, and he followed his heroes from the fifty-seventh day, just a few days and nights before the Uprising was suppressed. Defeat is present in the film from the introductory commentary which presents the individual characters: ‘‘These are the main heroic tragedies. Watch them closely; these are the last hours of their lives.’’ It is from this point of view that we see the unfolding story of one group of fighters who are no longer able to hold off the enemy and must retreat through underground sewers. The film is structured in two parts which differ from one another in their use of cinematic techniques. The first part is documentary in nature. It acquaints the viewer with the heroes and briefly conveys something of their lot before the Uprising. The camera follows them through everyday situations: they prepare their food, shave, make love, and talk about their loved ones and about their past. The effects of the war are ever present as these apparently everyday moments occur amid the ruins of the city where not a single house has been left standing. The war itself intrudes only with occasional explosions and small-scale attacks. This relative quiet is expressed through long takes, tracking shots and the use of only a minimum of detail. The actual tragedy commences only after the group has withdrawn under￾ground. There is also a change in the style of representation, which takes on an expressive eloquence; the lighting changes, there are more contrasts of light and dark, the camera focuses on the heroes in detail, the sequences of reality alternate with scenes that have symbolic