Tells two tales set during WWII: A seemingly feckless and selfish man finally takes up arms in the national struggle against the Nazis. Set in a POW camp, Polish inmates cling to their hopes for an eventual escape, encouraged by the legendary escape of one of their own.
Direction
Munk's jarring tonal whiplash between slapstick and despair.
Writing
Two segments that talk to each other across death and irony.
Editing
Ruthless cuts that deny you catharsis.
Director
Andrzej Munk
Edward Dziewoński
Dzidziuś Górkiewicz (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Józef Nowak
Lt. Kurzawa (segment "Ostinato Lugubre")
Barbara Połomska
Zosia (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Ignacy Machowski
Major (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Leon Niemczyk
Lt. Istvan Kolya (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Kazimierz Opaliński
Polish Commandant (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Zofia Czerwińska
Lula 'Jagódka' (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Jerzy Felczyński
Hungarian Officer (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Roman Hubczenko
(segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Zygmunt Listkiewicz
(segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Eleonora Lorentz
Old Woman (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Bogdan Baer
Hungarian officer (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca"
Stanisław Bareja
Polish Soldier (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Andrzej Gawroński
Polish Soldier (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Emil Karewicz
Polish Officer (segment "Scherzo alla Polacca")
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Munk was killed at age 39 before shooting the third planned segment, leaving Eroica intentionally fractured like the Polish experience itself.
Released in 1958, this was among the first Polish films to critique rather than glorify wartime resistance, making it a cornerstone of the Polish Film School movement.
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