Przedwiosnie

Over the last 10 years, the Poles have gone crazy bringing every major piece of their historic literature to the screen. Some have been excellent (Pan Tadeusz, Ogniem i Mieczem), but Przedwiosnie is an example where they rushed out a half-cooked movie.

The story begins with Cezary (Damiecki) living in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1914 with his Polish parents. The Bolshevik revolution arrives and turns their lives upside-down. His father tells him about how wonderful his homeland is and paints a paradise compared to the anguish they have under the Bolsheviks. Cezary acts upon his father's wishes and returns to Poland, but life there is not as wonderful as he was led to believe, and after a few years of calm life, war breaks out. The movie follows Cezary as his life is uprooted and replanted several times.

The story could have made for an excellent epic about revolutions, and how political turmoil affects people who just want calm lives. The story parallels the politics with the personal turmoil people create for themselves through their love lives and other interpersonal relationships. However in the execution, this film was rushed and the parallels are squandered and unused. Cuts between scenes are sudden; there's not enough development of some characters; and the film jumps through whole portions of the story so quickly you don't have time to appreciate and sympathize with the situation (especially in the opening setting of Baku). This film could have had so much depth, but instead falls flat and leaves you uninvolved. 6/10.

My Polish is not very good. I watched this film with my mother who is Polish-American and was born there after the story takes place. The story of a Polish young man who wants to return to his parents' homeland from the Soviet Union. It was at this time when Poland was still part of Russia. Then World War I happens, he joins the war and serves his country. Poland was not the wonderful homeland that his father had promised him. There are lot of problems after they finally become their own country after World War I. This is before World War II. The inter-war years in Poland are just as interesting as the War years. The Poles are unknown to what horror will lie ahead. This protagonist does a good acting job but the ending is too quick and the story doesn't seem to have a focus that would make the film solid. The cast was wonderful as the art direction and costumes during the period.