The Promised Land

Andrzej Wajda’s 1975 epic adapts Władysław Reymont’s 1899 novel into a sweeping portrait of ambition, industrial capitalism, and moral collapse. Set in 1880s Łódź, Poland’s industrial counterpart to Manchester, the film follows three entrepreneurial men who try to profit from the Industrial Revolution by establishing a cotton-processing plant, becoming increasingly consumed by greed, deception, and violence.

The production uses extreme wide-angle cinematography to make its mills, looms, and machinery appear imposing and unsettling, while Wojciech Kilar’s avant-garde score intensifies the atmosphere. Filmed in Łódź’s preserved factory interiors, the movie combines suspense, spectacle, and gore. Wajda sought to remove ethnic stereotypes from Reymont’s source material, although some traces remain.

When: Friday, November 27, 2026

Showtime: 7:00 pm

Venue: Harvard Film Archive

Director: Andrzej Wajda

Cast: Daniel Olbrychski, Wojciech Pszoniak, and Andrzej Seweryn

Run time: 169 minutes

Country and year: Poland, 1975

Format: DCP, color

Languages: Polish, German, Yiddish, and Russian with English subtitles

DCP source: Jessica Rosner

Tickets: Price not available

Series: Part of “Once There Was History ... Andrzej Wajda at 100,” running November 21–December 14, 2026.