Leaves Have Fallen

In "Leaves Have Fallen", while travelling on a train to the seaside, 20-year-old Henryk reminisces about his life during the war. Family and friends who died rematerialise before his eyes. Looking back, he recalls the Nazi humiliation and arrests that he witnessed. He also remembers the day he decided to join a partisan unit, and how he and his brothers-in-arms dreamed of what they would do once the war was over – including taking a trip to the seaside. However, Henryk is the only one lucky enough to see the sea in post-war Poland, as the friends he planned to travel with were all killed by the Germans.

Stanisław Różewicz based his screenplay on the stories of his brother, Tadeusz. The film’s lack of irony or excessive pathos was also strongly influenced by the death of his other brother, Janusz, who was killed by the Germans in 1944.