''How I Unleashed World War II'' () is a 1970 Polish comedy film directed by Tadeusz Chmielewski and based on Kazimierz Sławiński's novel "''Przygody kanoniera Dolasa''" (''The Adventures of Dolas the Cannoneer''). It was shot in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Poświętne and

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, among other places.

Synopsis

The film was divided into three parts: *''Część I:'' Ucieczka (''Part I: The Escape'') *''Część II:'' Za bronią (''Part II: Following the Arms'') *''Część III:'' Wśród swoich (''Part III: Among Friends'') Originally filmed in black and white, it was digitally colorized in 2001 by the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

company Dynacs Digital Studios, as requested by the Studio Filmowe "Oko" and TV

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSE: CP ...

. The film tells the story of a Polish soldier Franciszek (Franek) Dolas, who—as a result of comical

coincidence A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead to b ...

s—is convinced that he started the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Trying to redeem himself at all costs, he constantly gets into new trouble. In doing so, he finds himself on different war fronts (

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, Mediterranean Sea, Middle East,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) and eventually returns to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In a particularly famous scene, Dolas is questioned by a German-speaking

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

officer in Austria and answers that his name is "Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz"; the officer gets increasingly frustrated trying to write the fictitious Polish name.

Cast

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0065908 1970 films 1970s Polish-language films Polish World War II films Polish black-and-white films 1970 comedy films Films shot in Baku Films about Polish resistance during World War II Polish comedy films Films based on Polish novels Films shot in Poland Films shot in Georgia (country) Films shot in Crimea Films shot in Sochi Films set in Poland Military of Poland in films Films set in Germany Films set in the Alps Films set in Austria Films set in Yugoslavia Films set in Belgrade Films set in Croatia Films set in Dubrovnik Films set in Italy Films about Fascist Italy Films about the French Foreign Legion Films about prison escapes World War II prisoner of war films Films set in Syria Films set in Lebanon Films set in 1939 Films set in 1940 Films set in 1941 Films set in 1942 Films set in 1943 Films set in 1944