What sets Potop ('The Deluge') apart from the majority of international films is that it manages to escape the art-house ghetto that so many are resigned to, and stand on its own as an engaging piece of storytelling with memorably-drawn characters.
Director Jerzy Hoffman had nearly all of this handed to him on a silver platter. Based on the massive second volume of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Polish Trilogy, Potop follows the crimes, tribulations, and redemption of the nobleman Andrei Kmicic, set against the backdrop of the Swedish Invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a historical epic it is unparalleled, akin more to the works of Tolkien than Dumas, and this all comes down to the strength of the narrative, setting, events, and characterizations, all of which are suitably larger-than-life. Sienkiewicz himself would never really top his work here, and it's no surprise that Hoffman's adaption of the third book in the Trilogy (Pan Wolodyjowski, filmed first though it was the third book) did and does not register much. (It's the weakest book of the three by far).
Though its four-hour runtime will probably repel most American viewers, Potop does contain at least one showstopper sequence that earns its place in film history and cult-movie fandom: this is the sword-fight between the desperate Kmicic and the knight Pan Wolodyjowski. The scene only lasts around 5 minutes, but is such a carefully choreographed, Kurosawan wonder (the actors are visibly using real swords) that it is rightfully considered one of film's all-time greatest sword fights. Throughout the film Hoffman shows a keen aptitude for shooting carnage, but possibly at the expense of everything else; he seems to have little interest in cinematic blocking, and the most effective scene from the book (Radziwill's abrupt betrayal) is rendered strangely flat and unaffecting. With a production this massive, however, perhaps expectations should be a bit tempered.
Potop is a curious contrast to another immensely popular Polish blockbuster, 'Krzyzacy' (Knights of the Teutonic Order, also based on a book by Sienkiewicz), and filmed 14 years earlier in 1960. Krzyzacy was a gorgeously made film with cinematography about on par with Hollywood, but was populated by shallow stock characters and driven by (as per the depiction in a the film) a somewhat vapid youthful romance. The romantic angle in Potop is far superior, with the central relationship between Kmicic and Olenka far more developed and emotionally-wrought than that of Krzyzacy. That being said, the cinematography is uglier and the set-pieces simpler in Potop; maybe because of the extended runtime the budget seems somewhat reduced, the filmmaking less professional. The two films are an interesting microcosm of classic filmmaking versus 70s filmmaking; despite the latter's immovable grasp on the hearts of movie fans, it marked a decided decline in the technical professionalism seen during previous decades. Ultimately, however, Potop remains the better film due to its thematic breadth and narrative complexity.
The Deluge
1974 [POLISH]
Action / Adventure / History / Romance / War
Plot summary
During the Swedish invasion of Poland, the brave warrior Andrzej Kmicic, considered a traitor to the nation, fights for a country, redemption and love across the 17th-century Polish territories.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 24, 2022 at 10:58 AM
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Uneven but essential
The good old days of epic practical effects
The great thing about this movie is the big armies of extras in period gear, and they don't do it just for one big battle but over and over throughout the movie to the point of being gratuitous (in a good way). Way better than CGI of course. Plus the details of weapons, armor, horse riding and locations all look nice. So it's a satisfying exploration of the historical setting.
There are several moments where the development of battles doesn't make sense, and the battles sometimes turn into confused mass melees just like Hollywood depictions. And the cannon practical effects are not very good, but at least they are not as bad as in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
The movie is only average at trying to communicate the brutality of hand to hand warfare. Nor does it communicate the severity of the tragedy that befell Poland at this time. It's supposed to be a nationalist story about one of the most terrible episodes of Polish history yet it mostly depicts it like a PG-13 fantasy adventure. There is a little bit of (rather mild) atrocity/brutality but not enough for a 4.5 hour movie and, bizarrely, it is only ever done by Poles.
The main character starts off fairly unlikeable, and while things improve when the plot gets going the slow development is a problem for such a long movie. The only character who stands out as enjoyable is Colonel Zagloba.
There is a confusing moment where a character, last seen alive and well, suddenly turns up wounded and unconscious being pulled on a sled. It's a colossal screwup that the writers apparently couldn't find time to work such a pivotal event into a 4.5 hour movie. Anyway just know before you watch that when the character turns up wounded, it's from an offscreen event and not some sort of flashback or whatever.
more technical-budget view
I'd just like to add that "The Deluge" contained the best battle scenes made for the next 20 years till the movie "Barveheart", but even now they're still impressing. Hoffman managed to do that without any special effects and in the times when Poland was a communistic country and the budget was smaller than the amount of money middle class actors in Hollywood get now paid.
Except the battle scenes, it's impossible to not see the wonderful costumes and decorations. They're not only beautiful, but they create the climate of the 17th century better, than the often artificial decorations in Hollywood movies made for any century.
The film's time is about six hours. To tell the truth, I doubt that the Americans would have made this movie nowadays for less than a 100 mln $. Jerzy Hoffman could have dreamed at the best of that kind of money for his film and still, he made one of the best movies in history of cinema and the best in the history of Polish cinema.