Near the end of World War II, Poland is still held by Nazi Germany, but the Russian Army is advancing. In order to aid the Russians, the Polish underground, known as the Home Army, revolts against the Nazis. The story is centered around a group of students who join the underground. The Nazis fight back hard, killing many thousands of people and destroying much of the city.
Blaine: My dad and I both agree that there is no other movie like “Warsaw 44”. “Warsaw 44” tells the story of a part of World War II that my dad says he didn’t know about.
It’s interesting that a group of young Polish students would join the Underground to help Polish people who were in danger and kill Nazis. They were very brave to do it. In the beginning of the movie they are having fun and acting like carefree young people, but as they prepare for the uprising they are quickly helping those who are in danger. At first it looks like they believe saving Polish lives is going to be fun. They enjoy themselves as young adults while everything in their city was still in one piece and looked peaceful, even though there were Nazis hanging around. They thought being in the Underground was going to be fun, but it’s dangerous. My dad studied about Warsaw after we saw this film. Germany invaded Poland in early World War II and controlled the country for six years. By the time they left they had destroyed 80% of Warsaw. One of the reasons for the Uprising was they wanted to have a democratically elected government. The Polish wanted to control their own country and not let the Russians turn it into a communist country. The Polish got screwed by their Western and Eastern neighbors because they were enslaved by the Germans, who destroyed their country and later would be controlled by the Russians.
The story for “Warsaw” focuses on Stefan Zawadzki, a young man who looks after his mother and younger brother and is a hard worker at his job. Stefan’s friends show up in a truck along with someone new, Biedronka. Stefan only sees her face through the reflection of the mirror and it’s hard for him to look away. Stefan’s friends are playing in the lake and Biedronka is on this little island. Biedronka cries on the island and my dad thinks it’s because she can’t swim. Stefan swims over to help Biedronka get back to the other side of the lake. Fate wants Biedronka and Stefan to get close to each other. There’s a scene where Stefan is in the sauna with the guys, they leave, but he’s still in there naked. Then Biedronka shows up not knowing Stefan is still in there, takes off the towel wrapped around her and then they both gasp. They look at each other right in the face, too nervous to say anything. It’s not awkward because these two like each other. It’s more like something special.
Before Biedronka showed up, Stefan was sort of involved with Kama. My dad says it’s a love triangle between Stefan and the two women who want him. Of course Stefan’s attention is on Biedronka a lot. Stefan is trying to shoot a Nazi from a distance above and he sees Biedronka heading near them. Biedronka isn’t aware there are Nazis where she is going, so Stefan goes after her. Stefan gets to Biedronka just before the Nazis notice her. Biedronka is an open target from where she is standing. Stefan jumps in the air to push Biedronka out of the way just as the Nazis fire. Members of the Underground show up to back them up. That’s an intimate moment between Stefan and Biedronka. Stefan has Biedronka make a run for it while the others take care of the Nazis. But just as Biedronka is about to cross to the other side, Stefan pulls her in close and they share a kiss. Biedronka and Stefan’s first kiss is like fireworks. Literally, when their lips touch everything starts to shine. The bullets are curving around them and it looks like fireworks are going off.
My dad and I love the action in “Warsaw”. There is so much that is shown in it. There’s a lot of scenes in slow motion. And they show so much details in bomb explosions, being shot at and destruction.
At one point Stefan wanders through what is becoming a ruined city with an injury to the left side of the chest and who does he see?….his mother and brother. They are being lined up with other Polish people and shot at in the head. Stefan is starting to see things he wished he hadn’t seen. He can hardly take it. Stefan passes out and wakes up in a hospital where Biedronka and the other Underground members are. Like everything else, the hospital is being destroyed by the enemy and Biedronka goes in to get Stefan out. People will do crazy things when they are in love. Biedronka helps Stefan walk through what is becoming a war zone. I think Biedronka and Stefan have been through a lot more compared to the other members of the Underground. Bombs have been exploding right in front of Biedronka and she has managed to survive them all. Blood also rains from the sky, probably because there were war planes flying overhead. Biedronka and Stefan go into a sewer and a bomb gets thrown in there and they manage to survive that too, but they are a mess. They keep close to each other and survive together as lovers. Stefan lost his family, but he has Biedronka by his side now. However it doesn’t last forever, which is disappointing.
Biedronka wants to escape this nightmare because she can’t take it anymore. She wants to do what is best for both her and Stefan, but Stefan wants to continue fighting. They go their separate ways, but only for a day or two and then they find each other again. There is no escaping each other. And there's no way out because it's a death zone. If I was Stefan I would choose love over war.
Zofia Wichlacz, who plays Biedronka, has an interesting background. She comes from an artistic family. Zofia’s father is a cinematographer and her mother is an architect, set designer and interior designer. Zofia would spend a lot of time on film sets and made her feel like acting. When Zofia was twelve she wanted to try out acting and when she was sixteen she knew it was her dream to become an actress. Zofia is doing good so far at achieving her dream. What Zofia did in “Warsaw 44” was her first leading role and her performance earned her a Golden Lion for Best Leading Actress at the 2014 Gdynia Film Festival and a Polish Academy Award as Discovery of the Year in 2015. Zofia shows a lot through the eyes, along with Jozef Pawlowski, the actor who plays Stefan.
There are scenes where rose pedals are falling down from the sky. Kama, the other girl, gets some alone time with Stefan and they have sex. My dad says there’s certain happiness of being alive in a situation where you’re facing death and that’s what the sex scene is like. Sex is primal between a man and a woman, a basic need. Because you could die at any moment it makes people want to have sex to feel alive. That sex scene is one of the slow motion scenes and what’s interesting is the music in the background is electric.
My dad has pointed out that every time someone smiles while being a clear target, they take multiple gun shots. There’s a shootout happening between the Underground and the Nazis and one member from the Underground is smiling as she hides behind a wall. Then within a second or two she is blown across the room. During that scene you see shots that focus on the movement of a gun. The camera is hooked at the end of the gun barrel for a different and very interesting perspective.
Two members of the Underground blow themselves up. The two of them are lovers. The male is injured and is lying in the partially demolished hospital and the female is right there by his side. When a Nazi shows up, they decide they’d rather be blown up than taken away by the enemy. They died as lovers.
Endings can hurt sometimes, mainly when it comes to movies that involve romance because two people who look cute together don’t end up together forever. Stefan is the only one in his group, who has survived this tragedy. Stefan had two love interests and he lost them both. A tank shoots at Kama and she is still in one piece, sort of. I mean a blast like that would have torn her apart. Her insides, intestines, are exposed. Stefan is right at Kama’s side as she is taking her last few breaths. You would think Stefan would end up with Biedronka, now that there is no competition on who gets him in the end, but sadly she dies too. It’s very disappointing. Biedronka is at a damaged hospital looking after a few injured kids. A German soldier shows up and there is no where to run. Biedronka and the soldier just stare at each other and she is looking at him like she is staring death in the face. My dad says you don’t see Biedronka again after that so you assume she is dead. Stefan goes to a river and swims on the same island he and Biedronka first interacted with each other. Biedronka is there, but Stefan is just seeing things. Deep down he wishes she was there, but really she is not. I always hate it when a love story doesn’t end well. The last shot of “Warsaw” in the 40s shows a view point of total destruction of the city and Stefan is the size of an ant in that shot. Then that destructed city evolves into modern day Warsaw seen from the same angle. My dad says there wasn’t much of Warsaw by the end of the war. The Russians came and took over and made Poland part of the Eastern bloc (forcefully), so they went from being occupied by Germans, to being under the control of the Russians.
My rating on “Warsaw 44” is five out of five stars
