The Last Day of Summer

The Last Day of Summer

Directed by Tadeusz Konwicki • 1958 • Poland

Tadeusz Konwicki’s austere but beautiful examination of life in the aftermath of tragedy is one of the most exacting early masterpieces of the Polish Film School. Made with a crew of just five, with no artificial lighting and no sets, the film unfolds among the windswept dunes and crashing waves of the Baltic coast, where a nameless man and woman (Jan Machulski and Irena Laskowska) play out a thwarted attempt at romance. Recalling the modernism of Beckett and the French and Japanese New Waves, The Last Day of Summer finds a new film language to capture the disorientation and grief of the post-war generation.

THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER • OSTATNI DZIEŃ LATA
Written and directed by Tadeusz Konwicki
Cinematography by Jan Laskowski
Edited by Wiesława Otocka
Music by Adam Pawlikowski
Starring: Irena Laskowska, Jan Machulski

In Polish with English subtitles

Winner of the Grand Prix for Short Films at the Venice International Film Festival 1958

The Last Day of Summer
  • The Last Day of Summer

    Directed by Tadeusz Konwicki • 1958 • Poland

    Tadeusz Konwicki’s austere but beautiful examination of life in the aftermath of tragedy is one of the most exacting early masterpieces of the Polish Film School. Made with a crew of just five, with no artificial lighting and no sets, the film unfolds...

Extras

  • Video Essay: Martin Scorsese’s secret Polish inspiration

    Martin Scorsese has long praised Italian Neorealism and the French New Wave – but one of his deepest cinematic influences remains far less known: the Polish Film School.

    In this video essay, we explore how directors like Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk, and Wojciech Has helped inspire the visual lan...

  • Introducing the Polish Film School

    Klassiki curator Sam Goff introduces the work of the Polish Film School: an influential movement that emerged in post-Stalinist Poland to sift through the wreckage of war and the tensions of party-state communism.

  • Notes on The Last Day of Summer

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