The Promised Land (1975 film)

The Promised Land (Polish: Ziemia obiecana) is a 1975 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the novel of the same name by Władysław Reymont. Set in the industrial city of Łódź, The Promised Land tells the story of a Pole, a German, and a Jew struggling to build a factory in the raw world of 19th-century capitalism.[1]

The Promised Land
Polish promotional poster
Directed byAndrzej Wajda
Written byAndrzej Wajda
Based onThe Promised Land
by Władysław Reymont
StarringDaniel Olbrychski
Wojciech Pszoniak
Andrzej Seweryn
CinematographyWacław Dybowski
Edward Kłosiński
Witold Sobociński
Edited byZofia Dwornik
Halina Prugar
Music byWojciech Kilar
Release date
  • February 21, 1975 (1975-02-21)
Running time
180 minutes
CountryPoland
LanguagesPolish
German

Wajda presents a shocking image of the city, with its dirty and dangerous factories and ostentatiously opulent residences devoid of taste and culture.[2] The film follows in the footsteps of Charles Dickens, Émile Zola and Maxim Gorky, as well as German expressionists such as Knopf, Meidner and Grosz, who gave testimony of social protest.[3][4]

American filmmaker Martin Scorsese recognized the film as one of the masterpieces of Polish cinema and in 2013 he selected it for screening alongside films such as Ashes and Diamonds, Innocent Sorcerers, Knife in the Water and Man of Iron in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom as part of the Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema festival of Polish films.[5] In the 2015 poll conducted by the Polish Museum of Cinematography in Łódź, The Promised Land was ranked first on the list of the greatest Polish films of all time.[6][7]

Plot

Karol Borowiecki (Daniel Olbrychski), a young Polish nobleman, is the managing engineer at the Bucholz textile factory. He is ruthless in his career pursuits, and unconcerned with the long tradition of his financially declined family. He plans to set up his own factory with the help of his friends Max Baum (Andrzej Seweryn), a German and heir to an old handloom factory, and Moritz Welt (Wojciech Pszoniak), an independent Jewish businessman. Borowiecki's affair with Lucy Zucker (Kalina Jędrusik), the wife of another textile magnate, gives him advance notice of a change in cotton tariffs and helps Welt to make a killing on the Hamburg futures market. However, more money has to be found so all three characters cast aside their pride to raise the necessary capital.

On the day of the factory opening, Borowiecki has to deny his affair with Zucker's wife to a jealous husband who, himself a Jew, makes him swear on a sacred Catholic object. Borowiecki then accompanies Lucy on her exile to Berlin. However, Zucker sends an associate to spy on his wife; he confirms the affair and informs Zucker, who takes his revenge on Borowiecki by burning down his brand new, uninsured factory. Borowiecki and his friends lose all that they had worked for.

The film fast forwards a few years. Borowiecki recovered financially by marrying Mada Müller, a rich heiress, and he owns his own factory. His factory is threatened by a workers' strike. Borowiecki is forced to decide whether or not to open fire on the striking and demonstrating workers, who throw a rock into the room where Borowiecki and others are gathered. He is reminded by an associate that it is never too late to change his ways. Borowiecki, who has never shown human compassion toward his subordinates, authorizes the police to open fire nevertheless.

Selected cast

Production

The orgy scene in the garden of Kessler's palace featured female textile workers as extras. And because it was cold, they were 'warmed up' with a little alcohol. "They were so into the atmosphere that they undressed more than they should have," recalled Andrzej Halinski, 2nd stage designer.[8]

Parts of the film were filmed at the Villa of "Cotton King" Karl Wilhelm Scheibler.[9]

Awards

At the 9th Moscow International Film Festival in 1975, the film won the Golden Prize.[10] It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[11]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016: “Based on the novel by the Nobel Prize winner Władysław Reymont…”
  2. "Ziemia obiecana". Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  3. "The Promised Land (Ziemia Obiecana) - screening at the Polish Film Festival". Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  4. Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016: “The Promised Land...recreates the harsh environment of early capitalism in nineteenth century Łódź, an industrial town…expose[ing] the crudity and brutality associated with the ruthless pursuit of profit.”
  5. "UK Film List / Martin Scorsese Presents". mspresents.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  6. "Polska – Najlepsze filmy według wszystkich ankietowanych". Muzeum Kinematografii w Łodzi (in Polish). 2015-12-28. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  7. Niemitz and Steinberg, 2016: “...considered one of the finest Polish films…”
  8. ""Ziemia obiecana": Łódzkie włókniarki, czarne prezerwatywy i śpiący tygrys". film.interia.pl. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  9. eubuildit Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "9th Moscow International Film Festival (1975)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  11. "The 48th Academy Awards (1976) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2012-03-18.

Sources

Further reading
  • Schwartz, Dennis (February 2, 2014). "The Promised Land". Ozus' World Movie Reviews. The Polish Jewish director Andrzej Wajda ("Ashes and Diamonds"/"Kanal"/"Samson"), Poland's greatest living filmmaker, explores Poland's difficult transition in the late 19th-century from feudalism to the Industrial Revolution.
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