# Warsaw 44

Warsaw 44 (Polish: Miasto 44, lit. 'City 44') is a 2014 Polish war film written and directed by Jan Komasa. The film depicts the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 during the German occupation of Poland.

## Plot

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army advances from the east in the direction of Warsaw. For that reason, the Polish underground Home Army launches a revolt against the German occupying force. Underground fighter Stefan joins the armed uprising. He loves nurse Ala, but also has feelings for an underground fighter named Kama. A story of love and friendship unveils during the bloody and brutal reality of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising as the uprising is crushed, with heavy casualties and most of the city destroyed.
Stefan is an activist who assists the AK, but is not quite a member. At work, he attempts to hide his gun from a SS officer, Johan Krauss, who slaps his face with a whip. Together with his friends, he goes out to the countryside where he meets Ala, who has swum out to an island in a lake that she refuses to leave. Stefan is attracted to Ala, who feels the same about him. Stefan joins the AK, which upsets his mother. Ala comes from a wealthy szlachta (noble) family and over their opposition decides to go to Warsaw to join Operation Tempest. When the Warsaw Uprising begins on 1 August 1944, Stefan joins in the fighting, Ala works as a nurse and Kama as a messenger. Stefan and Ala declare their love for each other. After he sees his mother and little brother executed by the SS, Stefan becomes catatonic and Ala has to save him numerous times as Warsaw is destroyed while the dreaded Dirlewanger Brigade is unleashed against the people of Warsaw.
As their friends are killed, one after another, Stefan recovers from his catatonic shock after Ala passionately kisses him. Stefan saves the life of Krauss, who was wounded and captured by the AK. Ala decides to stay at the Hospital while Stefan joins the last surviving AK fighters, determined to fight onto the end. After Kama is killed by a tank shell, Stefan goes looking for Ala at the hospital. Her fate is ambiguous. On finding a mound of bodies, Stefan is found by Krauss, who spares Stefan. With Warsaw almost completely destroyed, Stefan swims out to an island in the Vistula river and sees Ala there. The last shot is of Warsaw in flames and in ruins at night. In the foreground we see that Stefan is, in fact, alone. The image transforms into a shot of modern Warsaw in the daytime while the narrator notes that almost nobody was alive in Warsaw after the uprising.

## Cast

* Józef Pawłowski – Stefan Zawadzki
* Zofia Wichłacz – Biedronka (Alicja Saska)
* Anna Próchniak – Kama (Kamila Jedrusik)
* Antoni Królikowski [pl] – Beksa
* Maurycy Popiel – Góral
* Filip Gurłacz – Rogal
* Tomasz Schuchardt – Kobra
* Sebastian Fabijański – Sagan

## Production

Production of the film took almost 8 years. Jan Komasa, who wrote and directed the film, stated: "We want to show the Warsaw Uprising to the world" and to "give the Warsaw Uprising its deserved place in world-wide consciousness". Parts of the film were shot on locations around Warsaw, while many of the battle scenes were shot in an abandoned factory in Łódź. The rest of the battle scenes were shot in Walim and Świebodzice in Lower Silesia. As the city of Warsaw was almost destroyed during the uprising, many of the scenes required computer-generated imagery to recreate the Warsaw of old.

### Music

The film's score was composed by Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz. The soundtrack album was released on 19 September 2014 under the music label Warner Music Poland. The album also includes the song "Miasto", performed by Anna Iwanek, Pati Sokół and Piotr Cugowski. The recording was promoted with a music video in which fragments of the film were used. The album charted at 41 on Poland's OLiS.

## Release and recognition

Warsaw 44 received a pre-release on 30 July 2014 at Warsaw's National Stadium for an audience of 15,000. It was officially released in Polish cinemas on 2 August 2014, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. Its first TV broadcast in Germany was on 2 August 2015 by ZDF.
Among other distinctions, the film won the awards for Best Actress, Best Sound and Best Special Effects at the Gdynia Film Festival and two of the prestigious Golden Rooster Awards given by the China Film Association (Best International Film, Best International Director).