Synopsis

On the day the German Wehrmacht surrendered, Maciek and Andrzej, two soldiers of the Polish Home Army, are ordered to kill Szczuka, a Stalinist who returned from Russia. Following the defeat of the Nazis, the nationalists are now fighting the communists. Their first attack fails and two innocent civilians are killed. Meanwhile, a big victory celebration is being prepared at the Monopol Hotel. Szczuka is on the guest list. Maciek is instructed to assassinate the man at that very place, but before he gets a chance to do so, he makes friends with a bargirl. His doubts about the meaningfulness of his order to kill are growing, as are his longings for a normal life away from war and death. With his third feature film, Andrzej Wajda masterfully stages the national tragedy of the people in his post-war homeland – their lives characterised by hopelessness and resignation, and full of bitter irony. The Monthly Film Bulletin called the story an “eloquent, contemporary symbol.” Zbigniew Cybulski, in the role of the young soldier, became an idol of his generation, and like James Dean, was killed in an accident few years after the film was shot.