Second Run presents Andrzej Wajda’s 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 includes A Generation (Pokolenie, 1955), Kanał (1957), and Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i Diament, 1958). These celebrated films are presented from stunning new 2K restorations, with A Generation being 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 Generation changed Polish cinema forever – delivering a brutal elegy to the human cost of war.
Kanał
An unforgettable and harrowing depiction of the last days of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the invading German Nazis, Kanał follows a band of surviving Polish Home Army soldiers who take to the sewers to avoid capture.
Wajda’s second feature is both a thrilling WWII adventure and a vivid, melancholic testament to lives lost and martyr heroes born. Kanał remains strikingly fresh in conceit and execution, and presents Wajda’s most potent mixture of lyricism and horror.
Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i Diament)
Wajda’s most renowned film and landmark of international cinema, Ashes and Diamonds takes 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 Wajda’s greatest work.
BLU-RAY 3-DISC LIMITED EDITION BOX-SET CONTENTS
• A Generation (Pokolenie), Kanał, and Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i Diament) - each film presented from new 2K restorations by Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych, Poland.
• Archival interviews with Andrzej Wajda.
• Introductions to each film by Polish cinema expert Michał Oleszczyk.
• Audio commentaries on all three films by film historian Michael Brooke.
• Andrzej Wajda's remastered early short films The Bad Boy (Zły chłopiec, 1951), Ceramics from Iłża (Ceramika Iłżecka, 1951) and While You're Sleeping (Kiedy ty śpisz, 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)
