The Promised Land (1975)
The Promised Land (1975)
(Ziemia obiecana, Andrzej Wajda, Poland 1975, 179 min., DCP, Polish w/subtitles)
A Century of Polish Independence. Based on the 1898 novel by the Nobel Prize winner Wladyslaw Reymont, the film is set in the fast-growing industrial city of Lódz. It focuses of the experiences of three young men, a Pole, a German, and a Jew, who work together to fulfil their dream of building a textile factory. Their gambit is successful beyond their dreams, but it extracts a high price from each of them. The film portrays the end of the romantic era in the Polish territories, the loss of traditional values, and the triumph of uncouth and dynamic nineteenth-century capitalism. Lódz, the land of promise for many, means destruction for others. Regularly counted among the greatest Polish films ever made, The Promised Land won Wajda numerous awards at prestigious festivals and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.