The work of Andrzej Wajda, one of the world's most important filmmakers, shows remarkable cohesion in spite of the wide ranging scope of his films, as this study of his complete output of feature films shows. Not only do his films address crucial historical, social and political issues; the complexity of his work is reinforced by the incorporation of the elements of major film and art movements. It is the reworking of these different elements by Wajda, as the author shows, which give his films their unique visual and aural qualities.

Janina Falkowska is Professor in the Film Studies Department at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, specializing in East-Central European and Western European cinemas. Her publications include The Political Films of Andrzej Wajda (Berghahn Books 1996), National Cinemas in Postwar East-Central Europe (ed.), and, co-authored with Marek Haltof, The New Polish Cinema (Flicks Books 2003).

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Andrzej Wajda: His Words and his Archives
Chapter 1. The Life and Times of Andrzej Wajda
Chapter 2. The Birth of a Master: Films of the Fifties
Chapter 3. Fight for Perfection: Films of the Sixties
Chapter 4. Between Politics and the Themes of Life and Death: Films of the Seventies
Chapter 5. Nostalgia and Remorse: Films of the Eighties
Chapter 6. Grande Finale: Films of the Nineties

Conclusion

Endnotes
Bibliography
Filmography
Prizes