Knights of the Teutonic Order – Aleksander Ford | #film

If one’s place in the history of cinema was determined by popularity with audiences, Knights of the Teutonic Order would have to be considered one of the most important Polish films of all time. It is estimated that by 1987, Aleksander Ford’s masterpiece had been watched by 32 million viewers, a record still unbeaten today.

This imperfect historical fresco responded brilliantly to public demand and became an important element in the construction of a national mythology. The circumstances in which Knights of the Teutonic Order was produced were already quite special, as Ford’s work was to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald and was part of the celebrations of the millennium of the Polish State. The adaptation of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel provided a unique opportunity for a patriotic manifestation and, at the same time, allowed for the creation of a huge, monumental spectacle.

The fact that the choice fell on Sienkiewicz’s novel was also for propaganda reasons: at the end of the 1950s, revisionist tendencies were allegedly on the rise in West Germany, which the Party wanted to strongly condemn. Unfortunately, these circumstances are very much reflected in Ford’s work – the characters here are starkly divided between the hypocritical, cruel and bloodthirsty Germans and the noble, honourable and just Poles. As noted by the authors of Historia Filmu Polskiego (The History of Polish Film) in volume 4, the contrast between the two nationalities is emphasised by the very use of colours – vivid when the space of the native land is presented, and cold and gloomy when the action takes place in the territories conquered by the Order.

Knights of the Teutonic Order – Image Gallery

Embeded gallery style

Display slider (default)

The conflict between the Poles and the Order in Ford’s film (and in Sienkiewicz’s novel) is a colourful backdrop for the adventures and difficulties of individual characters such as Zbyszko from Bogdaniec and Jurand from Spychów. Zbyszko (Mieczysław Kalenik) is not very clever, but as brave as a lion, a Polish nobleman who swears loyalty to a true lady – Danusia (Grażyna Staniszewska), but fate brings him together with the ‘homely’ Jagienka (Urszula Modrzyńska). A more complex character is Jurand (Andrzej Szalawski), the cruelly experienced lord of Spychów, who suffers all possible misfortunes from the Teutonic Knights. These threads are harmoniously interwoven with court scenes featuring historical figures such as Władysławs Jagiello (portrayed in a more favourable light in the film than in the book) or Prince Witold of Lithuania. The great climax of the Knights of the Teutonic Order is the impressive fifteen-minute scene of the Battle of Grunwald, ending in a spectacular victory for the Polish-Lithuanian army.

After the premiere of the film, Andrzej Wajda said that Ford’s work demolishes everything that the Polish Film School tried to build in the 1950s. The vision of the world outlined in Knights of the Teutonic Order is indeed quite primitive: Ford’s approach to national myths is uncritical, he does not try (unlike Wajda or Munk) to provoke the audience to reflection, but only – in line with the policy laid out by Władysław Gomułka – confirms nationalist stereotypes.

As a popular work, however, Knights of the Teutonic Order works well: alongside naïve and kitschy moments, Ford’s film has some deeply memorable scenes, such as Jurand’s blinding or the suicidal death of his executioner, Zygfryd de Löwe. This adaptation of Sienkiewicz’s novel is also a pioneering project in the history of Polish filmmaking: it is the first Polish super-production, moreover shot in widescreen and on Eastmancolor colour film. Thanks to the efficiency of the filmmakers, this largely propaganda film gained a huge audience not only in Poland and the USSR, but also in Czechoslovakia and France.

Author: Robert Birkholc, March 2014.

Knights of the Teutonic Order. Polish title: Krzyżacy. Poland 1960, directed by Aleksander Ford. Screenplay by Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, Aleksander Ford. Director of photography: Mieczysław Jahoda. Music by Kazimierz Serocki. Production design: Roman Mann. Cast: Urszula Modrzyńska (Jagienka), Grażyna Staniszewska (Danusia), Andrzej Szalawski (Jurand from Spychów), Henryk Borowski (Zygfryd de Löwe), Aleksander Fogiel (Maćko from Bogdaniec), Mieczysław Kalenik (Zbyszko from Bogdaniec), Emil Karewicz (Władysław Jagiełło), Leon Niemczyk (Fulko de Lorche), et al., Production: Studio Film Group. Colour, 166 minutes.

Knights of the Teutoni Order

aleksander ford

henryk sienkiewicz

jerzy stefan stawiński

mieczysław jahoda

Martin Scorsese Presents