On May 29 at 8:15 pm in the Scandinavia House (58 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016) there will be a screening of Andrzej Wajda's film "The Promised Land" ("Ziemia obiecana"), filmed in 1974 based on the novel of the same name by Nobel Prize winner in literature Wladyslaw Reymont.

The action of Wladyslaw Reymont's novel, first published in 1897-1898, takes place in the 1880s. The action takes place in the industrial city of Lodz, where at that time representatives of different nationalities lived - Poles, Germans, Jews, Czechs. The title of the book has a bitterly ironic meaning.

In the film, some plot lines of the two-volume novel are omitted. Three friends - Karol Borowiecki (Daniel Olbrychski), a native of the gentry, Max Baum (Andrzej Seweryn), the son of a German manufacturer, and Moritz Welt (Wojciech Pszoniak) - decided to build their own factory.

Max Baum (Andrzej Seweryn), Karol Borowiecki (Daniel Olbrychski) and Moritz Welt (Wojciech Pszoniak)

As usual, the accumulation of capital is accompanied by tangible moral losses. Moritz has to take a risky adventure, Karol has to sacrifice his own love, use his mistress (the wife of a Jewish magnate) as a means of achieving personal success, bear false witness on the Bible...

At the end of the film, the heroes, who have become rich but have degenerated externally and internally, give the order to shoot a workers' demonstration. The shot of a red flag rising above the crowd is followed by the final credits.

The film "The Promised Land" combines harsh social realism and sometimes even naturalism in the depiction of the "city of the yellow devil" (associations with the works of Maxim Gorky inevitably arise here) with symbolism in the spirit of Eisenstein. In this regard, the most expressive is the capacious image of a terrible wheel, indifferently grinding both the "exploiter" and the "exploited". In addition, many episodes were filmed using wide-angle optics, somewhat distorting the image - this is how a special expressionistic effect was created. A brilliant cast, along with virtuoso work of the cameramen and masterful mise-en-scènes make this film one of the most perfect works of Andrzej Wajda.

The film received the main prize "Golden Lions" at the Second National Festival of Feature Films in Gdansk (1975). In addition, the award for best male performance went to Wojciech Pszoniak; prizes were also received by artist Tadeusz Kosarewicz and composer Wojciech Kilar (the waltz from the film "Promised Land" is one of his best compositions). In the same year, the film was awarded the "Golden Prize" at the Ninth Moscow Film Festival.

The film "Promised Land" was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Foreign Film" in 1976 and was awarded the "Golden Ear" Prize at the Valladolid Film Festival.

Müller (Franciszek Pechka) and Karol Borowiecki (Daniel Olbrychski)

Moritz Welt (Wojciech Pszoniak) and Grunszpan (Stanisław Igar)

Max Baum (Andrzej Seweryn) and Anka (Anna Negrebecka)