Major battle scene shot for Polish independence film

The scene, the largest battle scene in the movie, is key to the Legions film which is due for release on 5 October 2018, ahead of Poland’s centenary of independence on 11 November 2018.

The historic film, directed by Dariusz Gajewski, shows the 1914-1916 plight of the Polish Legions, which were set up by Józef Piłsudski, who would later become Poland’s head of state.

Piłsudski aimed to regain Poland’s independence in World War I, after more than 100 years of partitions, by fighting with the Austro-Hungarian empire against Russia, before throwing support behind the UK, France and US to defeat Germany and Austro-Hungary.

But the film’s co-producer Maciej Pawlicki said: “This is not a movie about Piłsudski… It is about young people, a generation, thanks to whom we have Poland, we do not speak Russian or German, and we have our own country and our own culture”.

Piłsudski is portrayed in the film by Jan Frycz, with Borys Szyc, Sebastian Fabiański, Antoni Pawlicki and Bartosz Gelner in other main roles.

Pawlicki said that the order to charge in 1915, which ended in pyrrhic victory, was a bad one, but that the offensive made history.

The film’s budget of about PLN 28 million (EUR 6.5 million) is partly funded by Poland’s culture ministry. (vb)

Source: PAP, IAR