Look up 'grim' in the dictionary and 1957's "Kanal" should make an appearance. Haunting.

holy fuck. totally unforgettable, atmospheric nightmare of a film.

Impressive cinematography that only adds to the film's harrowing, claustrophobic and desperate atmosphere.

Intense and depressing.

958

A powerful, bleak film.

It gets off to a bit of a slow start, but once the characters descend into the sewers, it gets moving quickly. The photography is great, and the ending is haunting, but I never really connected with the characters as much as I would have liked.

I was unprepared for how much this really does feel (and plot itself) like a horror flick. Works both for and against it.

#989

I never figured The Third Man could be topped for sewer scenes, but this just blows right past it and leaves it in the dust. So dingy, dirty and depressing, full of bold, striking (and horrific) imagery. Wajda makes really great use of several motifs here, not the least of which is the composer's insane, pied-paper walk through the sewers to his eventual death. And the ending is brutally effective. One of the absolute great war films.

Drags you through war. Only complaint is that I couldn't really get into the characters so much (but still seeing the shit they go through is tough). The sewer part is easily the highlight... it's pretty scary and this is one of those films that want to make you feel above all else. Fuck conventional film making, this makes you feel claustrophobic because it's drenched in darkness.

I couldn't help but think the making of documentary would be so much more interesting then the actual film as I watched this. It's really well made and has some great shots and cool tricks and it would be cool to see how they did it. Moves along pretty slow at times and doesn't really have any great or memorable characters but it is brutal and extremely depressing so if you're into that check it out.

Wajda's first major success. Highly acclaimed. Part 2 of Wajda's "War Trilogy," preceded by "A Generation" and followed by "Ashes and Diamonds."

A bleak as all hell war movie that stays with you for a while. The sewer scenes were a tad too dark at times, but it added to the claustrophobic atmosphere. Painful stuff, with a harrowing ending to boot.

Claustrophobic as hell, a good - but not perfect - one.

Just couldn't get into this. Kanal is strikingly unrealistic and the acting is just bad. Its only saving grace is the affecting darkness, literal and symbolic, that consumes the second half of the movie.

Great film.

This is the darkest depiction of WW2 I've ever seen. Kanal is full of amazing, bleak and ghostly imagery, it left me with a feeling of great discomfort.

One of the most frightening war movies ever made.

A harrowing and intense look at the Polish Kanalization during the Nazi raids; the love, loyalty, and emotion these people share in their last hours of life. One of the greatest, emptiest, and most tragic endings I have ever seen.

:(

If this film is not in your tier 10 after you watch it.. try watching baseball or hockey just stay away from cinema.

Very dark, both thematically and visually with wonderful use of minimum lighting. I wish I could give this a better score because it really is a masterfully crafted film, but it trudged along (heh) pretty slowly during parts in the middle.

989

Incredibly depressing and bleak tale of a group of Warsaw Uprising resistance fighters, doomed from the start but doggedly trudging ahead. Much of the film takes place in the sewers, but aboveground isn't much better, as Wajda gives new meaning to the term "war-torn" in his recreation of Warsaw, 1944. There is some truly masterful camerawork here, especially the opening 4-minute tracking shot. I didn't care for the composer character, but other than that, an astonishing and powerful movie.