The Lake Constance

The film is set in 1940 in a German internment camp, where a young Pole becomes a central figure among an international group of educated prisoners. Through discussions, literary quotes, and ironic remarks, the protagonist reveals his Polish identity and confronts a foreign culture. In the background, his relationships with two French women unfold, alongside the dramatic fates of fellow inmates, including the tragic end of one of them. The film concludes with the protagonist’s return to the camp site years later, now in a different, more peaceful context. The film is based on two works by Stanisław Dygat from the so-called reckoning with the intelligentsia stream: the novel "Lake Constance" (1946) and the short story "Carnival" (1968).