Urodziny mlodego warszawiaka

1980
1h 36m

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The four sequences in the film cover four days in the life of a young Warsaw lad in September 1938, 1939, 1943, and 1944. In the first sequence Jurek decides not to study at Sorbonne but enl... Read allThe four sequences in the film cover four days in the life of a young Warsaw lad in September 1938, 1939, 1943, and 1944. In the first sequence Jurek decides not to study at Sorbonne but enlists in a Polish military school instead. In the second sequence the war starts and Warsaw... Read allThe four sequences in the film cover four days in the life of a young Warsaw lad in September 1938, 1939, 1943, and 1944. In the first sequence Jurek decides not to study at Sorbonne but enlists in a Polish military school instead. In the second sequence the war starts and Warsaw is occupied. In the third sequence he works in the underground resistance. The final sequ... Read all

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IMDb RATING

5.7/10

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7mpadjasek

An interesting and thought-provoking look at Warsaw in 1938-1944

I am not an expert in history, but the many failed Polish uprisings sometimes make me doubt the common sense of some historical Polish leaders. They often demanded the sacrifice of many human lives with minimal chances of success. So, for example Warsaw Uprising in 1944 claimed between 150 000 to 200 000 lives of the citizens of Warsaw, and caused the desctruction of the city without achieving any of its goals. The film "Urodziny mlodego Warszawiaka" (The Birthday of a Young Varsovian) does not attempt to analyze those events but presents Warsaw in the years 1938-1944 from the perspective of several September birthdays of a young man, Jerzy (Piotr Lysak). So we take a quick look at him, his family, friends, and acquaintances in 1938, 1939, 1943, and 1944. We also have different attitudes towards war, starting from Jerzy's father (Andrzej Lapicki) and his young wife (Gabriela Kownacka), who just want to be witnesses to the events, to the German officer Uhlmann (Karl Sturm), who openly admits that he hates the war and his uniform. We also have a group of Polish patriots, to which Jerzy belongs, who carry out the orders of their superiors. It was very interesting for me to see the omnipresent death through Jerzy's narrative. The film is distinguished by attention to detail, good acting (especially by Andrzej Lapicki), and avoidance of unnecessary pathos. It does not offer any ideology; it just forces us to think about the meaning of war, human life, and death.