On their way to an afternoon on the lake, husband and wife Andrzej and Krystyna nearly run over a young hitchhiker. Inviting the young man onto the boat with them, Andrzej begins to subtly torment him; the hitchhiker responds by making overtures toward Krystyna. When the hitchhiker is accidentally knocked overboard, the husband's panic results in unexpected consequences.
During the Napoleonic wars, a Spanish officer and an opposing officer find a book written by the former's grandfather.
A German woman on a ship returning to Europe notices a face of another woman which brings recollections from the past. She tells her husband that she had been an overseer in Auschwitz during the war, but she has actually saved a woman's life.
Love at Twenty unites five directors from five different countries to present their different perspectives on what love really is at the age of 20. The episodes are united with the score of Georges Delerue and still photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson.
In 1668 Polish colonel Michał Wołodyjowski, who recently retired to a monastery, is recalled to active duty and takes charge of Poland's eastern frontier defenses against invading Tatar hordes and Ottoman armies.
Set in the 19th century Warsaw. The indolence of aristocrats who, secure with their pensions, are too lazy to undertake new business risks, frustrates Wokulski. His ability to make money is respected but his lack of family and social rank is condescended to. Because of his "help" (in secret) to "the doll's" impecunious but influential father, the girl becomes aware of his affection.
A dream-like meditation on post-industrial life in Communist Poland.
To convince the prison warden against releasing him, a middle-aged Polish man recounts his life, one he considers to have been characterized by exceptionally bad luck.
A group of street thugs assault a man, causing temporary blindness. One of them, Romek has a change of heart after this incident and decides to turn against his former friends.
At the end of World War Two, Polish people move to the western lands vacated by Germans. But some ruthless profiteers pose as government representatives and intend to make off with loot from a deserted town they took over. One honest man stands up against them because he believes these goods belong to the people.
A Pole incorporated into the Wehrmacht deserts, hiding in a coal mine ...
The movie consists of two satirical novels based on the same idea: both the "gangsters" and "philanthropists" end up in the courtroom.
The inability of a truck driver to relate to normal life after an accident for which he feels himself responsible.
1945. Home Army soldier who hides in the village must decide if he wants to engage into dangerous situation to help group of Jewish runaways.
In this WWII drama, Russian soldiers take a break at a scenic farm in Poland, and the unit is able to escape the horrors of war during their brief respite. A Polish farm girl and a Russian officer feel a mutual and unspoken attraction towards each other.
An elderly man returns to Poland to find his long-lost son, missing since World War II. In his quest the man is forced to contemplate the elusive and coded nature of truth itself.
An actress visits her hometown to attend the funeral of her grandfather. She realizes that the places and people from her past differ from her cherished memories.
Wacław Urbin joins an exclusive club, learning the secrets of its members.
A shy Warsaw university student is in love with a girl who pays no attention to him. Change comes after her intimate love letters are read publicly at a party.
Wajda's homage to Zbigniew Cybulski, the "Polish James Dean" who starred in the director's ASHES AND DIAMONDS and died young. The movie follows the tribulations of a director attempting to make a movie with a Cybulski-like star who never shows up.
