Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives. A coming-of-age story of survival and shattering loss, A Generation delivers a brutal portrait of the human cost of war.
Direction
Wajda's debut already shows his mastery of space and tension.
Cinematography
Black-and-white rubble that feels lived-in, suffocating, urgent.
Director
Andrzej Wajda
Tadeusz Łomnicki
Stanisław 'Bartek' Mazur
Urszula Modrzyńska
Ewa 'Dorota'
Tadeusz Janczar
Jasio Krone
Janusz Paluszkiewicz
Sekuła
Ryszard Kotys
Jacek
Roman Polanski
Mundek
Ludwik Benoit
Grzesio
Zofia Czerwińska
Barkeeper Lola
Zbigniew Cybulski
Kostek
Tadeusz Fijewski
German Guard in a Sawmill
Zygmunt Hobot
Abram
Cezary Julski
Coach Driver
Bronisław Kassowski
Waldemar Berg
August Kowalczyk
Priest
Jerzy Krasowski
AK Major
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Roman Polanski's first major film appearance—he was 21 and already had that chaotic screen energy.
Wajda made this under Soviet-influenced Polish censorship, yet smuggled in ambivalence about Communist heroism that viewers still debate.
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