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Film adaptations of Nobel
Prize-winning historical novels by Henryk
Sienkiewicz.
The trilogy filmed in reverse order: Pan Wołodyjowski
(1968), The Deluge (1974, nominated for Oscar), and
With Fire and Sword (1999).
Representations of 17 th century Poland successfully fighting external enemies.

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An epic describing
Ukrainian Cossacks’ revolt as a civil war within Polish-
Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
The “Golden Age” of
Poland.
Ignites Polish patriotism, but also calls for unity of
Slavic nations.
Made into an extended TV version.

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Pan Tadeusz (1999),
Wajda’s film adaptation of an epic poem by Adam
Mickiewicz (written in
1834).
Attempt to reinforce national identity; “a semimythical distillation of
Poland and Polishness”
(Andrzej Werner).
Mixed reception with the public.

 (poem) “a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or historical hero. The Iliad and the
Odyssey are epics.”
(Merriam Webster
Dictionary)
 (film) A long film depicting large-scale events.

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Referential code: the totality of traditions, psychology, politics, morality, etc. of the culture the text (film) refers to.
Intertextuality: interconnections, crossreferences, and influences that link different texts. “A text is constructed of a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorbtion and transformation of another.”
(Julia Kristeva)

“Dramatic irony occurs when a character states something that they believe to be true but that the reader/viewer knows is not true. The key to dramatic irony is the reader's/viewer’s foreknowledge of coming events.” http://serc.sogang.ac.kr/erc/Literature/Irony.htm