Under the Phrygian Star, the third film from legendary Polish Film School director Jerzy Kawalerowicz, is the second part of an historical epic based on the writings of Igor Newerly. In Cellulose, we saw a young peasant become slowly radicalized during the interwar period. Phrygian Star takes up the tale of Szczesny, now a full-fledged Communist who has fallen in love for the first time amidst growing tension between the Polish government and the labor movement. Here, Kawalerowicz offers a multi-dimensional, fully humanized depiction of a working-class hero, while effectively capturing the socio-politics of the Sanation movement in Poland.

Jerzy Kawalerowicz---Poland---1954---112 mins.