Kanal (1957)

 Andrzej Wajda's "Kanal"

There are certain times during a standard war film when one questions the validity of certain scenes or outlandish occurrences. Would these things have really happened? Or is this plot device for dramatic effect? If you ever wondered that about Andrzej Wajda's 1957 film "Kanal," let me just stop you right there.

"Kanal" centers on a group of Polish resistance fighters who get trapped in the last remaining refuse by the Nazis. After being cornered, they are forced into the underground sewers, where the toxic fumes from excrement, urine, and chemicals slowly starts to kill them. On top of this grueling way to die, the fumes send them into a delirium. The only choice remains is: should one keep fighting for the possibility of escaping? Or should one climb back up and face execution by the Nazis?

This choice presents an unwinnable scenario for its characters. Die in excrement or die by the hands of the dreaded Nazis? Symbolically, this notion represents the unattainable resolution of resistance fighters everywhere. To bend to the will of fascism in undesirable, but to be forced into situations that pressure you to suffer or be exterminated is another less than desirable outcome. 

To die in excrement is not something that typically represents the lasting image of anti-fascist or resistance fighters in films. This is precisely why the Polish did not take a liking to the film, as the final shot of the protagonist dead, covered in feces is not quite a celebration of the martyrs who willingly sacrificed their lives. Understandable, but it is unshakably real, as devastating and uncomfortable as it is. 

But one may be wondering if this story was dramatized for the sake of telling an engaging story. The film's scriptwriter, Jerzy Stefan Stawinski, actually survived in the sewers as an officer of the Polish Resistance during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. So, "Kanal," despite being a fictional account of these events, is entirely based on a factual occurrence by its writer. 

Despite the Poles not being too happy with the depictions of its heroes, "Kanal" is the very first film to center on the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. It depictions of the difficulties by those brave men and women aren't subject to ridicule in any capacity by the film. On the contrary, having to watch what these men and women endured only makes them heroes to any observer of this great piece of Polish cinema.