A staged cinematic parable, it presents in symbolic images a painful diagnosis of Poles' sense of identity in the 1970s.
Direction
Wiszniewski's staged compositions hit like political propaganda from hell.
Cinematography
Every frame a loaded metaphor you can't unsee.
Director
Wojciech Wiszniewski
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during the Gierek era's brief economic optimism, the film's pessimism was politically dangerous—Polish censors let it pass, perhaps not grasping its full bite.
Wiszniewski died mysteriously at 34; ABC Book remains his most accessible work, which is saying something.