El diluvio

A grand epic based on the writings of Henryk Sienkiewicz, The Deluge presents to its audience a gritty world saturated with betrayal and ruin, heroism and patriotism. Outstanding costume design paired with a brilliant cast led to a greatly rich depiction of Slavic aristocracy. Daniel Olbrychski's larger-than-life portrayal of Andrzej Kmicic aptly accomplishes the solemn bearing of a nobleman combined with hints of mania and barbarity.

The story engrosses with its beautiful cinematography, excellent character development, and cultural and historical insights into the Polish nation. The Deluge falls nothing short of monumental.

What sets Potop ('The Deluge') apart from the majority of international films is that it manages to escape the art-house ghetto that so many are resigned to, and stand on its own as an engaging piece of storytelling with memorably-drawn characters.

Director Jerzy Hoffman had nearly all of this handed to him on a silver platter. Based on the massive second volume of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Polish Trilogy, Potop follows the crimes, tribulations, and redemption of the nobleman Andrei Kmicic, set against the backdrop of the Swedish Invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a historical epic it is unparalleled, akin more to the works of Tolkien than Dumas, and this all comes down to the strength of the narrative, setting, events, and characterizations, all of which are suitably larger-than-life. Sienkiewicz himself would never really top his work here, and it's no surprise that Hoffman's adaption of the third book in the Trilogy (Pan Wolodyjowski, filmed first though it was the third book) did and does not register much. (It's the weakest book of the three by far).

Though its four-hour runtime will probably repel most American viewers, Potop does contain at least one showstopper sequence that earns its place in film history and cult-movie fandom: this is the sword-fight between the desperate Kmicic and the knight Pan Wolodyjowski. The scene only lasts around 5 minutes, but is such a carefully choreographed, Kurosawan wonder (the actors are visibly using real swords) that it is rightfully considered one of film's all-time greatest sword fights. Throughout the film Hoffman shows a keen aptitude for shooting carnage, but possibly at the expense of everything else; he seems to have little interest in cinematic blocking, and the most effective scene from the book (Radziwill's abrupt betrayal) is rendered strangely flat and unaffecting. With a production this massive, however, perhaps expectations should be a bit tempered.

Potop is a curious contrast to another immensely popular Polish blockbuster, 'Krzyzacy' (Knights of the Teutonic Order, also based on a book by Sienkiewicz), and filmed 14 years earlier in 1960. Krzyzacy was a gorgeously made film with cinematography about on par with Hollywood, but was populated by shallow stock characters and driven by (as per the depiction in a the film) a somewhat vapid youthful romance. The romantic angle in Potop is far superior, with the central relationship between Kmicic and Olenka far more developed and emotionally-wrought than that of Krzyzacy. That being said, the cinematography is uglier and the set-pieces simpler in Potop; maybe because of the extended runtime the budget seems somewhat reduced, the filmmaking less professional. The two films are an interesting microcosm of classic filmmaking versus 70s filmmaking; despite the latter's immovable grasp on the hearts of movie fans, it marked a decided decline in the technical professionalism seen during previous decades. Ultimately, however, Potop remains the better film due to its thematic breadth and narrative complexity.

Note: "Potop" means "Deluge", and is labeled such on some international covers of the film, though not all.

This is one of the greatest post-medieval war films, yet unfortunately is largely ignored by audiences today. Perhaps it is because this is Polish production based on a historical Polish novel. However, although the story is based vaguely on Polish history, nearly all of the characters, except for the Polish king & some members of Polish aristocracy, are fictional. That is not to say the events or characters are untrue to life - just the opposite: they are wonderful representations of people thrust into universal situations of desperation. It is easy for anyone to identify with many of the characters depicted in the film. Director Hoffman has created people, not just characters, they seem so real that one feels almost able to reach into the screen and touch them. Another interesting factor is that they are people from all walks of life. Unlike Kurosawa's "Ran" (another fascinating film about post-medieval warfare), the people represented on screen are not just the leaders responsible for the actual war. Everyone from peasant folk to the highest ranking military personnel is covered - and they are all deep characters, with emotions and feelings, not just hordes of faceless crowds running to battle to be slaughtered. This creates a full tapestry of characters unlike anything seen in any film of this kind.

The cinematography is another factor worthy of mention, especially regarding its intended relation to the depicted events. The locations reach from breathtaking and beautiful images of Polish forests to the cold and hopeless feeling of winter. It's interesting to note that the mood of the cinematography quite often directly reflects the mind-set of the characters, especially the character Andrzej Kmicic (played by Daniel Olbrychski). Kmicic, without a doubt the most interesting personality in the film, is often a very irrational man. He lapses, quite suddenly, from emotions of extreme hatred and rage, to feelings of unquestionable love, and the cinematography perfectly reflects this instability. This becomes especially evident in the latter portion of the film, as the Swedish army encroaches Poland, and the situation becomes desperate for all the characters involved. The landscape at this point becomes desolate and cold, as if the invading Swedes brought with them not only weapons of death, but also the excruciating winter of the Scandinavian north. Even the music reflects this atmosphere of desolation, as is best evidenced in a scene of the Swedish army marching into Poland. The music at this point becomes powerful to the extreme, yet it is a simple tune played by many instruments, creating an atmosphere that conveys feelings of the freezing winter by aural means alone.

"Potop" is flawlessly directed by Jerzy Hoffman, one could say that this was his greatest achievement. His previous film "Pan Wolodyjowski", based on the third part of the same trilogy of books, was also wonderful, but it failed to convey the chaotic and senseless nature of war as well. With "Potop" Hoffman has created a masterpiece. It is dark, cruel, and ruthless, as war always is. The editing, supervised by Hoffman, is flawless. In 1999 Hoffman brought the first part of the Sienkewicz trilogy to screen in the form of "Ogniem i Mieczem" ("With Fire And Sword"), but left the editing to a young editor who tried to impress young audiences with pointless fast edits, which made that film nearly unbearable to watch. With "Potop" we can see a master at his best - there are a few fast edits where such editing is appropriate, and many long perfectly choreographed shots that reflect both the beauty of the landscape, and the desperation of the characters involved.

The acting is another factor that makes this such a wonderful film. There are so many interesting characters and excellent performances to match, that it would be impossible to cover them all. However, two actors that truly stand out here are the late Tadeusz Lomnicki in the role of Michal Wolodyjowski, the same role he portrayed in "Pan Wolodyjowski", and of course Daniel Olbrychski as the erratic Andrzej Kmicic. The only oddity here is that Daniel Olbrychski actually appears in all three parts of the trilogy as three very different characters. In "Pan Wolodyjowski" he plays the evil Azja Tuhaj-bejowicz, and in "Ogniem i Mieczem" he is Azja's father Tuhaj-Bej. This makes some sense in terms of the first and third part of the trilogy, since we'd expect the son to look a little like his father, but in "Potop" he plays a Polish noble. This can be a little distracting when you see all parts of the trilogy, yet it is impossible to deny that Daniel Olbrychski is one of the best actors of the last three decades, so it's no surprise that Hoffman wanted Olbrychski to appear in all three parts of the trilogy.

Overall, this is one of the greatest war films of all time. Because of its ability to create real humans out of characters, it is also a fine film compared to any genre. Unless you are deathly afraid of subtitles, you will surely agree. War is hell, and this film represents that perfectly! Highly recommended.

I'd just like to add that "The Deluge" contained the best battle scenes made for the next 20 years till the movie "Barveheart", but even now they're still impressing. Hoffman managed to do that without any special effects and in the times when Poland was a communistic country and the budget was smaller than the amount of money middle class actors in Hollywood get now paid.

Except the battle scenes, it's impossible to not see the wonderful costumes and decorations. They're not only beautiful, but they create the climate of the 17th century better, than the often artificial decorations in Hollywood movies made for any century.

The film's time is about six hours. To tell the truth, I doubt that the Americans would have made this movie nowadays for less than a 100 mln $. Jerzy Hoffman could have dreamed at the best of that kind of money for his film and still, he made one of the best movies in history of cinema and the best in the history of Polish cinema.

Potop( the Deluge, in English) is also a story of betrayal by some of the Nobles of Poland who side with Sweden. It is also one part of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy; the others, also filmed by Hoffman: Pan Wolodyjowski (Colonel Wolodyjowski) and, Ogniem i Mieczem (With Fire and Sword) were released in 1969, and 1999, respectively.

I have been able to find these movies for sale in the US, although they're in Polish, with English subtitles, at Polish import shops, however, I've been unable to find DVDs.

This movie, as well as the other two mentioned, have some violent scenes, but the violence depicted is not unusual for the time period, and such violence was no stranger to Western European counties such as France, Spain and England.

Potop is a very good action flick based on historical events, see it if you can.