From the opening overhead shot of passengers streaming in and out of Lodz railway station to the final shot of Lucyna Winnicka walking along a beach, luggage in hand, we are in the presence of an undisputed masterpiece of film-making.
There are four main characters here: Jerzy, the mysterious man wearing sunglasses who insists on a sleeping compartment to himself; Marta, the unhappy, emotional blonde with whom he is reluctantly obliged to share; her impetuous former lover who boards without a ticket and even resorts to hanging off the train outside her compartment in an attempt to win her back; the attractive, coquettish young wife of an extremely tiresome lawyer. They are all wonderfully drawn and offer penetrating psychological portraits. Leon Niemczyk as Jerzy is a well-known face of Polish cinema mainly through Polanski's 'Knife in the Water' whilst Zbigniew Cybulski as the jilted lover is the first socialist 'superstar'. The fascinating Teresa Smiglielowna is the bored wife and Lucyna Winnicka was recognised at the Venice film Festival for her performance as Marta.
The pivotal sequence in the film is the discovery of the escaped murderer. He jumps off the train and the way in which the passengers pursue and close on him like a pack of hounds over their quarry is brilliantly handled by director Jerzy Kawalerowicz and his cameraman Jan Laskowski. There have been similarities drawn with Hitchcock and the scene where the young honeymooners are roused from their compartment at journey's end blissfully unaware of the dramatic events that have unfolded is a masterstoke worthy of Hitch. There is also an inspired and haunting use of an arrangement of Artie Shaw's 'Moon Ray'.
Beautifully directed and performed this film works on so many levels but is essentially about loneliness and the near impossibility of relationships. As Marta observes; 'Noboby wants to love but everybody wants to be loved'.
Andrzej Wajda referred to Kawalerowicz as 'the Father of Polish cinema'. Sixty years on from its release this masterwork has not dated one little bit.
There are four main characters here: Jerzy, the mysterious man wearing sunglasses who insists on a sleeping compartment to himself; Marta, the unhappy, emotional blonde with whom he is reluctantly obliged to share; her impetuous former lover who boards without a ticket and even resorts to hanging off the train outside her compartment in an attempt to win her back; the attractive, coquettish young wife of an extremely tiresome lawyer. They are all wonderfully drawn and offer penetrating psychological portraits. Leon Niemczyk as Jerzy is a well-known face of Polish cinema mainly through Polanski's 'Knife in the Water' whilst Zbigniew Cybulski as the jilted lover is the first socialist 'superstar'. The fascinating Teresa Smiglielowna is the bored wife and Lucyna Winnicka was recognised at the Venice film Festival for her performance as Marta.
The pivotal sequence in the film is the discovery of the escaped murderer. He jumps off the train and the way in which the passengers pursue and close on him like a pack of hounds over their quarry is brilliantly handled by director Jerzy Kawalerowicz and his cameraman Jan Laskowski. There have been similarities drawn with Hitchcock and the scene where the young honeymooners are roused from their compartment at journey's end blissfully unaware of the dramatic events that have unfolded is a masterstoke worthy of Hitch. There is also an inspired and haunting use of an arrangement of Artie Shaw's 'Moon Ray'.
Beautifully directed and performed this film works on so many levels but is essentially about loneliness and the near impossibility of relationships. As Marta observes; 'Noboby wants to love but everybody wants to be loved'.
Andrzej Wajda referred to Kawalerowicz as 'the Father of Polish cinema'. Sixty years on from its release this masterwork has not dated one little bit.