A Generation

1955 1h 27m PL

👍

6.9

SOLID

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 65★7.1IMDB · 3,335

WarDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Tadeusz Łomnicki
Stanisław 'Bartek' Mazur
Urszula Modrzyńska
Ewa 'Dorota'
Tadeusz Janczar
Jasio Krone
Janusz Paluszkiewicz
Sekuła
Ryszard Kotys
Jacek
Roman Polanski
Mundek
Ludwik Benoit
Grzesio
Zofia Czerwińska
Barkeeper Lola

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Andrzej Wajda
Writers: Bohdan Czeszko
Languages: Polish
Countries: Poland

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

87 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

71 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Andrzej Wajda, shot by Jerzy Lipman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Czesław Raniszewski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Tadeusz Łomnicki and Urszula Modrzyńska and Tadeusz Janczar carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0048500 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Andrzej Wajda directs. Jerzy Lipman behind the camera. Czesław Raniszewski cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Poland. Dialogue in Polish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
271 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Andrzej Wajda, shot by Jerzy Lipman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Czesław Raniszewski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Tadeusz Łomnicki and Urszula Modrzyńska and Tadeusz Janczar carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0048500 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jerzy Lipman
Editing: Czesław Raniszewski
Production design: Roman Mann
Costume design: Jerzy Szeski
Makeup / hair: Zdzislaw Papierz
Runtime: 87 min · 1h 27m
Status: Released
Original language: PL
IMDB: A Generation (1955)
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 3,335 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Also by

Andrzej Wajda

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-09-01
★ 7/10
At the height of the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1942, this tells us a story of war with a slightly different slant. It takes up the cudgels of the youth whose innocence was well and truly stripped away by their oppressors and illustrates just how tough it was to grow up in any sort of a natural fashion when guns were everywhere and freedom-fighting the order of the day. That is exemplified here by "Stach" (Tadeusz Lomnicki). He grew up in the Warsaw equivalent of a shanty town, with his mother, and learned to live on a combination of wits and strength. He falls in with some communist resistance fighters at work and that's where he meets "Dorota" (Urszula Modrzynska) whom he begins a relationship with whilst perils mount outside. The killing of an officer by his close friend "Jacek" (Ryszard Kostas) makes matters much more intense and with their enemy now firmly focussed on the group, it becomes even more dangerous and lonely for an increasingly angry and frustrated 'Stach". Andrzej Wajda manages to use the tightly knit cast here to create a drama that's entirely plausible of a society struggling to retain any semblance of it's freedoms and principles in the face of an overwhelming and hostile government. He uses the character of "Stach" cleverly to contrast his vulnerability and, at times even childishness, with his courage and his desires. This also shows us a bit of the enemy of any enemy is my friend philopsohy as people with little in common find themselves (temporarily) allied to combat a common foe safe in the knowledge that each are the other's next foe down the line in due course. Like most of the best films to depict events of WWII, this uses the ordinariness of the people to fight it's corner well. Decent people who were not trained killers, indeed here they are barely out of school, yet they adapt to the wreckage of their city; reduced to huddling in corners or ruins or sewers that are darkly lit and photographed as if these very sets were terrified. This is a tough watch and it tests humanity in many of it's guises as it depicts a sort of hope from hopelessness - but without any danger of rose covered cottages, or cherry pie endings.

Production companies