Kanal (1957)

So, I finally got to see Kanal. Unfortunately, thanks to the fine folks at Blockbuster Online, it wasn't the Criterion version, but the Facets disc. And I'm not exaggerating when I say it's one of the worst discs ever produced. No extras at all and that's not a bad thing, since there are many Criterions that lack them as well. The audio is scratchy, 2-channel mono, and even if I put it into Pro Logic to force the sound into the center channel, it resonates in all 4 surrounds instead. The subtitles are tiny and poorly translated. My favorite was when a man asked a woman "Was he you first?" But, the main offender here is the video transfer. For the first half hour or so, the video is dark, scratchy and lacking focus, but it's still watchable. Then, if you know anything about the film, you know that more than half of it takes place in the sewers. This stretch is almost unviewable because the transfer is so dark and murky, you may as well be watching the film with your TV off. I think, ultimately, this really affected my viewing of the film, because I couldn't tell what was happening on screen many times.

Backbiting about the transfer aside, I really enjoyed Kanal. As far as Wajda, it was far better than A Generation, and only slightly behind Ashes and Diamonds. I felt that Ashes and Diamonds was a richer experience, had more depth to it, and the characters were far more well-defined. Though, that said, I really liked Kanal. It's tightly plotted with a decent ensemble cast, and the cinematography (or at least what I could see) is top-notch.

The opening of the film is a beautiful feat, as we see a row of soldiers marching in the distance. They move closer and pass in front of the camera, one by one. The camera pans around, tracking past each one then subsequently allowing each to pass by again. During this, the narration reveals small details about each character as they march by the camera, in the same way that Jeunet would do many years later in films like Amelie and A Very Long Engagement. Bear in mind, this is all one shot. After this, the camera still pans as the band of freedom fighters makes its way through a battlefield, ducking behind cover here and there, ultimately emerging on the other side. This beautiful shot is the first of many moments of great cinematography in Kanal. I was surprised to see that the film wasn't shot by Jerzy Wojcik, who shot Ashes and Diamonds, but Jerzy Lipman who'd also done Wajda's A Generation and would go on to shoot Polanski's Knife in the Water, among many others. Fine work he did here, though.

It's interesting that much is made early on of their fate. We know from the very beginning, through narration, that all the men here will be dead a few hours later. This information looms over the rest of the picture like a spectre, and we know that despite their best efforts, they will not survive.

One of the final scenes, depicted on Criterion's exquisite cover is a spectacular piece of art. It's breathtaking, exciting and tense. Kudos for Criterion for picking the most memorable moments from the films for the stylized artwork on the covers of the discs. The scene in Kanal is likely to stick with all who view the film for a long time.