Akademik

(Ziemia obiecana, 1975)

   Andrzej Wajda's classic film set in the fast-growing nineteenth-century industrial city of Łódź, an adaptation of Władysław Stanisław Reymont's acclaimed epic novel. The film introduces three main characters: a Pole, Karol Borowiecki (Daniel Olbrychski); a Jew, Moryc Welt (Wojciech Pszoniak); and a German, Max Baum (Andrzej Seweryn), all of whom attempt to build a textile factory. The film tells how the three young entrepreneurs try to establish themselves in Łódź, yet it is essentially the story of the city. Łódź, the land of promise for many, means destruction for others in this film. Wajda paints an almost Marxist image of the city—Moloch devouring its children. He follows Reymont's portrayal of the end of the romantic era in the Polish territories, the loss of traditional values, and the triumphant march of uncouth and dynamic capitalism. Like Reymont, Wajda portrays Łódź as having energy, potential, wealth, and national and class diversity. He also deals with the plight of the remnants of the pauperized nobility, who were forced to move from their country manors—the bastions of traditionally understood Polishness—to newly developed industrial cities. The Promised Land was well received by critics and audiences alike. It received an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Film category and won the Festival of Polish Films and film festivals in Moscow, Val-ladolid, and Chicago. In 1996 The Promised Land was chosen as the best film in the history of Polish cinema in a popular plebiscite of the Polish monthly Film.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof