Second Run presents Andrzej Wajdas renowned War Trilogy – the three films that first brought Wajda international attention and kickstarted the Polish Film School movement.
These works are powerful and often harrowing accounts of the Polish Resistance through World War II and after, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the struggle for personal and national freedom.
The set includesA Generation(Pokolenie, 1955),Kana(1957), andAshes and Diamonds(Popi i Diament, 1958). These celebrated films are presented from stunning new 2K restorations, withA Generationbeing released for the first time ever on Blu-ray.
A Generation (Pokolenie)
Andrzej Wajda’s debut feature chronicles the lives of a group of young friends who, having grown up in German-occupied Poland, find their places within the Resistance army fighting against their Nazi oppressors.
Taking inspiration from the Italian neorealist movement, and brilliantly photographed by Jerzy Lipman,A Generationchanged Polish cinema forever delivering a brutal elegy to the human cost of war.
Kana
An unforgettable and harrowing depiction of the last days of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the invading German Nazis,Kanafollows a band of surviving Polish Home Army soldiers who take to the sewers to avoid capture.
Wajdas second feature is both a thrilling WWII adventure and a vivid, melancholic testament to lives lost and martyr heroes born.Kanaremains strikingly fresh in conceit and execution, and presents Wajdas most potent mixture of lyricism and horror.
Ashes and Diamonds (Popi i Diament)
Wajdas most renowned film and landmark of international cinema,Ashes and Diamondstakes place on the final day of WWII, as a young Resistance fighter is assigned to assassinate a Communist official.
Renowned for its electrifying, iconic, era-defining performance by Zbigniew Cybulski, this vision of Poland poised between the horrors of the recent past and an uncertain future, and the moral dilemmas faced by individuals in a time of transition, is arguably Wajdas greatest work.
BLU-RAY 3-DISC LIMITED EDITION BOX-SET CONTENTS
A Generation(Pokolenie),Kana, andAshes and Diamonds(Popi i Diament) – each film presented from new 2K restorations by Wytwrnia Filmw Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych, Poland.
Archival interviews with Andrzej Wajda.
Introductions to each film by Polish cinema expert Micha Oleszczyk.
Audio commentaries on all three films by film historian Michael Brooke.
Andrzej Wajda’s remastered early short filmsThe Bad Boy(Zy chopiec, 1951),Ceramics from Ia(Ceramika Iecka, 1951) andWhile You’re Sleeping(Kiedy ty pisz, 1953).
Individual booklets with new writing on each film by Polish cinema specialists Ewa Mazierska, Tony Rayns and Peter Hames.
New and improved English subtitle translations.
World and UK premieres on Blu-ray.
Region-free Blu-rays (A/B/C).
Technical details:
Language: Polish
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratios: 1.37:1 / 1.33:1 / 1.66:1
Video: BD50 x 3 / 1080p / 24fps
Audio: 2.0 Dual Mono LPCM (48khz/16-bit)
Discs: 3
Black and white
Region A/B/C (Region Free)
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