Samson

We saw the 1961 film "Samson" by Andrzej Wajda on Saturday. This was a black and white movie in Polish with English subtitles. There were a few instances in which the dialog did not have subtitles. This was limited to a few lines here and there. This movie was set in Warsaw and the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. It was much like "The Pianist" by Roman Polanski (2002). The lead actor even looked like Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) of "The Pianist."

"Samson" is the story of a Jew, Jakub Gold (Serge Merlin), at the polytechnic university in Warsaw imprisoned and sentenced to 10 years for accidentally killing his friend in German- occupied Poland. In prison he makes several contacts that will factor later in the movie. The prisoners are released when Warsaw is bombed. Jakub is sent to the Warsaw ghetto where the Jews are "doomed to death for the crime of existence" and is assigned to picking up corpses from the streets and helping to provide them with a Jewish burial. Along the way he picks up his own mother. After one such burial Jakub and another man escape from the ghetto. After he escapes he desires to go back into the ghetto to share the fate of his kinsmen. After being locked in an apartment building after curfew he meets a woman, Lucyna (Alina Janowska) , who is also a Jew but who has been hiding her identity in order to survive. Lucyna falls in love with him. She tells him "You know what it's like to escape the Warsaw ghetto but I escape every day." They are separated. Lucyna thinks that Jakub went back into the ghetto. She identifies herself as a Jew to the Germans in order to be sent to the ghetto in order to find him. (Shades of an O. Henry tale here.) Meanwhile he finds refuge in an apartment belonging Józef Malina (Jan Ciecierski), whom he met in prison, and Malina's niece, Kazia (Elzbieta Kepinska). Jakub wishes that he had the strength of the biblical Samson to fight the Germans single handedly. Kazia falls for him. Jakub vacillates and instead of returning to the ghetto hides in their basement until the Warsaw uprising has ended. He only returns to the ghetto after the Germans had put down uprising and destroyed the ghetto in the process. Afterwards he meets others of the resistance.

It was not quite clear why Jakob did not return to the Warsaw ghetto and instead spent his time with Mr. Malina and Kazia. He did not have the strength of the biblical Samson after all I suppose.

波兰电影大师安德烈 瓦伊达的作品.故事讲述德国占领波兰期间,一个犹太人因杀人被判入狱10年.在监狱被轰炸时,男主角被安置到犹太限制区的经历.故事有点类似"钢琴师".男主角甚至在样貌上都有几分安德烈 布罗迪的样子.



瓦依达的一些作品，如：《大理石人》和《铁人》被人认为是反社会主义的。《大理石人》拍于1976年，电影讲述了50年代初期劳动英雄比尔库特遭受迫害的故事，本片曾在戛纳国际电影节上获得国际影评奖。1981年拍摄的续集《铁人》承接上集，讲述记者在收集大理石人儿子黑材料的时候，竟意外的发现了大理石人是如何被谋杀灭迹的材料，于是记者将此公诸于世，本片获得戛纳国际电影节金棕榈奖。这两部片子都受到了多方阻挠，后来才得以公映。西方评论界认为其作品应归为“新浪潮”，认为它们是“波兰电影学派”创作路线的发展，继承了波兰的传统浪漫主义。瓦依达善于创新，敢于解决尖锐问题。虽然对他的评论并不一致，但他蜚声国际，其作品很受重视，受到多方研究。

4444(创建者)