Eroica

(1958)

   One of the landmarks of the Polish School, Andrzej Munk's tragic-grotesque film consisting of two novellas based on Jerzy Stefan Stawinski's script depicts an everyday face of Polish heroism stripped of romantic myths. Its first part, Scherzo alla pol-acca, introduces a wartime antihero, Dzidziuś Górkiewicz (Edward Dziewoński)—an opportunist, a black-market dealer, and an accidental hero of the Warsaw Uprising. Munk's protagonist serves the uprising acting as a mediator between the Home Army (AK) command in Warsaw and the Hungarian army unit, which is stationed near his house at the outskirts of Warsaw. But his motivations are not those cultivated by the Polish romantic tradition. The second part, Ostinato lugubre, which narrates the story of Polish prisoners of war in a German camp, is a satire on heroism and the anachronistically understood "soldier's honor." Munk also produced the third segment, Con bravura, in a different spirit since it utilizes the Polish romantic legend, which deals with the experiences of the wartime couriers crossing the Tatra Mountains. He decided to drop Con bravura from the final version of his film; it premiered in 1972 on Polish television. Eroica introduces characters facing the same problems as Andrzej Wajda's insurgents, yet their actions are devoid of any romantic aura. The director clearly separated himself from the dominant national mythology to offer a bitter satire on Polish-style heroism. The "musical titles" of Eroica are obviously of parodic nature, but they also testify to Munk's interest in music.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof