Shadow (1956 film)

Shadow (Cień) is a 1956 Polish film directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. It was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot
The plot involves a Rashōmon-like investigation into the life of a man who has been found dead after having been hurled from a train. As security agents, police and a medical examiner piece together his identity, three accounts emerge: one set during World War II, one in the immediate aftermath of the war, and one in contemporary Poland. In each account, the victim seems to have been a mysterious, ambiguous presence, of shifting loyalties and suspicious connections, who set himself against the powers that be.

Critics attacked the film for its depiction of a world rife with secret agents and hidden enemies—a favorite Stalinist theme—while the film seems, rather, to demonstrate how heroism and villainy are often matters of point of view and timing.

Cast

 * Zygmunt Kęstowicz as Knyszyn
 * Adolf Chronicki as Karbowski
 * Emil Karewicz as Jasiczka
 * Ignacy Machowski as Shadow
 * Tadeusz Jurasz as Mikuła
 * Bolesław Płotnicki as Railwayman
 * Bohdan Ejmont as Officer
 * Marian Łącz as Stefan
 * Zdzisław Szymański as Peasant
 * Halina Przybylska as Village Woman
 * Antoni Jurasz as Lt. Antoni
 * Wiesław Gołas as Underground Soldier
 * Barbara Połomska as Stefan's Friend
 * Stanisław Mikulski as Blonde
 * Roman Kłosowski as Witold