Wielka droga (1946) ***

The first post-war Polish film is actually the last pre-war Polish film. Made in Italy in 1946, it's a story of Polish soldiers who, while fighting against the Nazis in 1939, were attacked from behind by the Red Army on September 17, found themselves deported to Siberia, imprisoned in gulags, liberated after the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, escaped from Stalin's clutches in 1942, joined the Western Allies in Iran, Palestine, Iraq and Egypt, and finally took part in the liberation of Italy, winning a great battle at Monte Cassino in 1944. Produced by the Polish Army loyal to the pre-war Polish government (then in exile), this anti-Communist film was directed by Michal Waszynski ("Co moj maz robi w nocy", "Jasnie pan szofer", "Bedzie lepiej", "Dybuk") and written by Konrad Tom (the director of "Manewry milosne", "Ada, to nie wypada!" and "Zapomniana melodia"). Mostly a documentary, with priceless archival footage, the film uses a fictional framing story about a blind and wounded soldier who confuses a hospital nurse (Jadwiga Andrzejewska) for his fiancee. The film probably wasn't intended as an allegory about Poles who were confusing the newly created Communist country for the real, free Poland, but such an interpretation is almost inevitable (especially considering that Jadwiga Andrzejewska, despite playing in such a strongly anti-Communist film, still decided to return to Poland in 1947).