"Eroica" by the Polish master, Andrzej Munk. These 2 stories define the singular

Posted by tinear (A) on October 28, 2009 at 08:50:59

Polish view of "heroism" (the translation of eroica) and cleverly somewhat follow a musical design.
"The initial episode, centered on the tragic Warsaw uprising of 1944, sounds a new note in Munk's artistic method as well as for Polish cinema. It is the presentation of an ironic, sarcastic anti-hero and his deeds, a view that is quite exceptional within the body of Polish film that treated either the uprising or the war in general. The protagonist is a Warsaw good-for-nothing who is calculating and forever oscillating between cowardice and a utilitarian world view. Suddenly, and against his will, he becomes a hero. In drawing his character Munk does not obscure a single negative feature; in certain sections of the story Munk consistently emphasizes aspects of character and plot that lead the protagonist to greedy calculations of profit and loss. However, the hero is not a schematic one-dimensional character. At the moments when he sets aside his own principles to defend the uprising, Munk lends him a certain grandeur, which flows from the tragedy of the solitary deed that is ultimately useless and unnecessary. The director's ability to find elements of the comic and the grotesque even in tragic events has enabled him to catch some of the paradoxes of the Warsaw uprising. However, the film is not a satire, as has been charged by some Polish critics. Munk does not mock his hero but shows how the atmosphere of the time can influence a totally unheroic individual and impel him to act.

The second episode unfolds on a tragic plane. It takes place in a POW camp, where a significant moment in the joyless lives of the Polish officers occurs when the rumor that one of their comrades has managed to escape is heard. The story is falseâ€”the fugitive hides until his death inside the camp. Here Munk contemplates the meaning of an artificially sustained myth and, in this connection, examines and traces its influence on the entire camp. In this case, too, he is not demeaning the importance of the rumor; from the outset he even ascribes to it a certain power that should help the captives in their struggle for survival. Analysis of the mechanics of the story, however, gradually reveals its destructive nature, for it paralyzes activity and displaces courage and the will to act."

Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/Films-Dr-Ex/Eroica.html#ixzz0VFLXI1ND

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Topic - "Eroica" by the Polish master, Andrzej Munk. These 2 stories define the singular - tinear 08:50:59 10/28/09 (0)

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