Aside from the fact that the women in the film are stunningly beautiful and all the camp prisoners are too fat, this film rings true on the chaos of the post-war.<br /><br />Beautiful photography, and a powerful national expression of the Polish national character.<br /><br />It's very slow at points, but its entire pacing is so different from American and Western European films that it's quite refreshing.<br /><br />Both lead actors do a very good job. On the DVD version, you can see interviews with the principal actors and crew, and the lead actress Stanislawa Celinska has gained about 50 lbs and lost all of her beauty. But in 1970, she was a stunner.