0:00:03 > 0:00:06I'm embarking on a new railway adventure
0:00:06 > 0:00:08that will take me across the heart of Europe.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:21for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25It told travellers where to go, what to see,
0:00:25 > 0:00:29and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks
0:00:29 > 0:00:31crisscrossing the continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:37I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy
0:00:37 > 0:00:42where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I want to rediscover that lost Europe
0:00:45 > 0:00:49that in 1913 couldn't know that its way of life
0:00:49 > 0:00:52would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13On this journey, I'm venturing deep into central Europe,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16to a country carved up by three great empires,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19a place where East meets West.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Poland has been colonised and partitioned,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26its people repressed and even slaughtered
0:01:26 > 0:01:31by three great empires of Russia, Austria-Hungary,
0:01:31 > 0:01:32and Germany,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36and then later by the Nazi Third Reich and the Soviet Union.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Today, it's the economic success story of the former Eastern Bloc
0:01:41 > 0:01:44but it's had a long struggle to get here.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48At the time of my Bradshaw's, Poland wasn't even on the map.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54I want to study how this nation was first subjugated,
0:01:54 > 0:02:00and then more recently reborn, as I travel Poland's historic tracks.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07My Polish adventure begins in the capital, Warsaw,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09which, in my 1913 Bradshaw's,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14appears under the heading "Russia in Europe (Including Poland)".
0:02:14 > 0:02:16I'll continue on to the city of Lodz,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19before entering former German territory
0:02:19 > 0:02:22to explore Poznan and Wroclaw,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and end on what was then Austrian soil,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27at the southern city of Krakow.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37On today's journey, I discover how not to do a Polonaise.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Don't know what happened there!
0:02:43 > 0:02:49And land my acting debut in Poland's respected film industry.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52- WHISPERING:- This could be my big breakthrough.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01First stop, Warsaw. Bradshaw's comments:
0:03:01 > 0:03:04"Once the capital of Poland,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08"now capital of the Russian Province of Warsaw."
0:03:08 > 0:03:10The British tourist in 1913
0:03:10 > 0:03:15could have no idea that Russia would shortly be humiliated,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19its Tsar murdered and its empire overthrown.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30Edwardian travellers to Warsaw
0:03:30 > 0:03:34could have arrived at one of three main stations,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38but this city's history is such that each has been destroyed.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Now only Warsawa Centralna remains,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46rebuilt during the communist era in a brutalist style.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53I'm not expecting much of the Warsaw described in my 1913 guidebook
0:03:53 > 0:03:57to have survived the ravages of the Nazi occupation and communist era.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02But my guidebook has led me to an avenue described as
0:04:02 > 0:04:04"the most important and interesting thoroughfare,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06"Krakowskie Predmeestie".
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Here is a painting of the same avenue nearly three centuries old
0:04:12 > 0:04:14and, of course, it's absolutely recognisable.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Here is the church on the left.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18And this is somewhat puzzling
0:04:18 > 0:04:22because Warsaw was famously razed to the ground during World War II,
0:04:22 > 0:04:28so I don't quite follow how it can be so beautifully preserved here.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31To help me answer that question,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Karolina Paczynska has offered to take me on a tour
0:04:35 > 0:04:40of this grand old avenue in a 1913 carriage.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Karolina!
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Hello! How nice to see you in Warsaw!
0:04:45 > 0:04:47What a delightful way to travel!
0:04:47 > 0:04:48Yes, it is!
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Karolina, Bradshaw's devotes a whole page
0:04:51 > 0:04:55to the architectural wonders of Warsaw.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57It looks wonderful today.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00I don't understand, how was this not destroyed in World War II?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03The city of Warsaw was almost completely devastated
0:05:03 > 0:05:05on Hitler's orders.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08House by house in two or three months,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12it was transformed into a real desert,
0:05:12 > 0:05:18but it was reconstructed by the people who came back to the city
0:05:18 > 0:05:20after the Second World War.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22They found nothing.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26There were no houses, no homes, no electricity,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28no running water, nothing,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and with their own hands they rebuilt it all.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36It was a real miracle,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38the reconstruction of the city of Warsaw.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- Real heroism.- Yes, it was.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44And that's what makes us very proud.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49I was looking at the reproduction of the painting by Bellotto.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Was that used as a model for the reconstruction?
0:05:52 > 0:05:57Yes, but what is interesting, he also made some improvements.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00It's funny because during the reconstruction of the city
0:06:00 > 0:06:05after the Second World War, they recreated the improvements as well.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08That's a very nice story.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10But I'm quite surprised that the communists allowed
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the reconstruction of this bourgeois architecture.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19Well, they allowed it, but in very limited scale.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27I have a huge admiration for the determination of the Polish people
0:06:27 > 0:06:32to rebuild their city, a phoenix risen from the ashes of 1945.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43My last visit to Warsaw was a long time ago,
0:06:43 > 0:06:44just after the Communist era,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48and my memories of the place were that it was very partially restored
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and it was kind of Stalinist and grim.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Well, it gives a very different impression today.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55The restoration is now very thorough
0:06:55 > 0:06:59and the city is as full of history as it is of fun.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05The revitalised fabric and glittering facades
0:07:05 > 0:07:09are architectural echoes of 1913 Warsaw
0:07:09 > 0:07:15a place that boasted a rich tapestry of different peoples and cultures.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19But, during the Second World War the Nazis made it their mission
0:07:19 > 0:07:21to annihilate the Jews in Warsaw.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27I want to find out how the Jewish community fares today.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32I'm turning to my 1913 guidebook to locate Warsaw's Jewish quarter.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Bradshaw's comments that "Warsaw is a busy place.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41"But the general elegance is often marred by the untidy appearance
0:07:41 > 0:07:42"of the Jews".
0:07:42 > 0:07:46And then again, "North of the cathedral is the old town
0:07:46 > 0:07:50"with the unattractive Jewish quarter a little further North".
0:07:50 > 0:07:53We all know, alas, what was the fate of Warsaw's Jewish population
0:07:53 > 0:07:59during World War II, but to find such casual, unselfconscious anti-Semitism
0:07:59 > 0:08:02in a British publication of the 20th century is really a shock.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09This quarter doesn't look unattractive today.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12At a cosy Jewish cafe I've arranged a lunch
0:08:12 > 0:08:14with lawyer Kryzsztof Izdebski.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20Here we are at the Tel Aviv cafe, which serves Israeli food
0:08:20 > 0:08:23and it seems really rather chic!
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Yes, it's rather chic and it's quite popular.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29The people think that to be a Jew is cool.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It's kind of an exotic thing.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37My guidebook has some quite sort of casual anti-Semitic remarks.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39What were conditions like for Jews in Warsaw
0:08:39 > 0:08:41at the beginning of the 20th century?
0:08:41 > 0:08:43- Were they barred from certain professions?- Yep.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47It was very hard to get to the university, first of all,
0:08:47 > 0:08:52then you couldn't for example be a fully-qualified lawyer.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54The guidebook refers to the Jewish district
0:08:54 > 0:08:56being unattractive and untidy.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Is that because the Jews here were very poor at the time?
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Yes. The people were poor, but generally the people
0:09:01 > 0:09:06wore traditional clothes with black, moustaches, hats...
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I can imagine it looked odd.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13From a population of around 300,000 in 1913,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18today's Jewish community officially numbers under 1,000.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19After the Second World War,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23survivors of the Holocaust returned to Poland,
0:09:23 > 0:09:29but persecution continued and hundreds of thousands of Jews fled.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32The situation between Poles and Jews was pretty tense.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35So a lot of people decided to assimilate,
0:09:35 > 0:09:40and assimilate in a society meant changing names,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42forgetting about the past.
0:09:42 > 0:09:49Some of my friends discovered that they are Jewish when they were 25.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Where the grandfather or grandmother dying
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and they wanted to say this, "I'm Jewish.".
0:09:59 > 0:10:04Once they had to conceal their identity and were in mortal danger.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Their history could not be darker.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12Today's tiny Warsaw community of Jews has no need to hide.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17My Bradshaw's has led me
0:10:17 > 0:10:21to this pleasant park in the south of the city where it tells me
0:10:21 > 0:10:26I'll find the imperial Warsaw residence of the Russian czar.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34This is the delightful Lazienki park, home to two palaces -
0:10:34 > 0:10:36the Lazienki palace and the Belvedere -
0:10:36 > 0:10:38and on a spring day like this,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42it's a pleasant place for Varsovians to take a stroll.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46But, in the 19th century, this was the playground for the Russian
0:10:46 > 0:10:50ruling class, the hated oppressors of Poland.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59The people of Warsaw had lived under the Russian yoke since 1815.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01The official language was Russian,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and Poles weren't allowed to hold public office.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Treated as second class citizens in their own land,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11how did the Polish people maintain their cultural identity?
0:11:11 > 0:11:16I'm meeting Varsovian born and bred Wojciech Bakowski.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20The Lazienki park has a lot of connections with the Russian
0:11:20 > 0:11:23occupation of the 19th century.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28How was the Polish spirit kept alive during that period?
0:11:28 > 0:11:31It was kept alive, notably, with the art and literature,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36and the national movement actually used poets like Mickiewicz, and
0:11:36 > 0:11:40composers like Chopin as prophets and vehicles for the national cause.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Composer and virtuoso pianist Frederic Chopin was born in 1810
0:11:46 > 0:11:50in a village outside Warsaw to a Polish mother and a French father.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55He left Poland as a teenager just before the 1830 Polish uprising
0:11:55 > 0:11:57and spent most of his life in Paris.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01His music reflected the melancholy of his Polish motherland,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05and, so, despite being absent, he was adopted as a Polish icon.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10He was the most famous Polish artist that we had in the 19th century,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14so he became an instrument for the national movement to build
0:12:14 > 0:12:18a Polish identity around those cultural values.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21For example, he used Polish national dances such as the Polonaise
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and the Mazurka as piano genres.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27MUSIC: "Polonaise" by Chopin
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Designed in 1910,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33this monument to Chopin commemorates his adoption to the national cause.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37The Nazis blew up the original statue in 1940
0:12:37 > 0:12:41because Chopin's music had become a potent symbol of Polish nationalism.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46To play it in Nazi-occupied Poland was considered subversion
0:12:46 > 0:12:47punishable by death.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And what is that's sweeping above Chopin's head?
0:12:52 > 0:12:53That's a willow.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55That is the quintessential Polish tree,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59that expresses the melancholy and nostalgia of Chopin's music.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11The Polonaise is a traditional Polish dance
0:13:11 > 0:13:14elevated by Chopin to an art form.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Wojciech is taking me to the beautiful Lazienki Palace
0:13:22 > 0:13:26to see how the tradition continues to this day.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35It's a stately, processional dance
0:13:35 > 0:13:39in which couples walk, circle each other and bow.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40THEY APPLAUD
0:13:41 > 0:13:45This is very, very charming. Why are the young people doing the Polonaise?
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Now, this is a traditional second high school ball that we call
0:13:48 > 0:13:52the "studniowka" which occurs 100 days before their A-levels,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and the crucial part of that ball is dancing the Polonaise.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58- Everyone has to do this? Did you do this?- I did.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Now, why don't you have a go?
0:14:00 > 0:14:02I'd rather not.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12And one, two, three.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14One, two, three.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15One, two, three.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19One, two, three. One, two, three.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28SHE GIGGLES
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Nie porozumielismy sie.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36I don't know what happened there, it seemed all right to me.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41I'm sure that dancing's not my forte
0:14:41 > 0:14:43but if at first you don't succeed...
0:14:43 > 0:14:44MUSIC STARTS
0:14:49 > 0:14:50SHE GIGGLES
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Once again.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54Once again.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Come on.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01SHE GIGGLES
0:15:19 > 0:15:20That WAS a surprise!
0:15:23 > 0:15:25SHE GIGGLES
0:15:34 > 0:15:37APPLAUSE
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Very good.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47I think I'll be sticking strictly to my Bradshaw's!
0:15:56 > 0:16:00After prancing, I'm ready for a proper Polish supper
0:16:00 > 0:16:02and I'm returning to the Old Town.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Celebrity chef Magda Gessler's Fukier restaurant would have been
0:16:09 > 0:16:12a fashionable eatery for tourists in 1913.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- Good evening.- Good evening, how are you?- I'm Michael.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21You must be the famous Magda!
0:16:21 > 0:16:26- You remember me!- And you're Lara. - My name's Lara.- How lovely to see you.- Hello, Michael.- Good evening!
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Originally a wine shop, this historic building now
0:16:31 > 0:16:35prides itself on offering the best in traditional Polish fare.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40My passion is old Polish cuisine.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43And so you have resurrected the old Polish cuisine?
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I am like the archaeologic in the Polish cuisine!
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Magda, I arrived here with my old book, but I see
0:16:49 > 0:16:52that you have an old book, too. What is that?
0:16:52 > 0:16:54This is a very old book that me,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58my mum, her mum have been inspirated by this.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01That's a book by Lucyna Cwierczakiewiczowa.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04It's like a guide book for what you should eat
0:17:04 > 0:17:08during the year for your own family budget.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11So would it be possible this evening to try some recipes
0:17:11 > 0:17:14- that are recommended in your book? - Of course!
0:17:14 > 0:17:16This looks delicious.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20It's perfect steak tartare. It's appetiser which in Poland
0:17:20 > 0:17:22is amazing, and this place is very special.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Pate venison and herring,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Very special herring in sherry.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Herring in sherry?
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Yes. You'll like this one it's very Polish.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37And, Magda, what should we drink with these little appetisers?
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Bison vodka. It's very special cold vodka.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45- Oh, it's amazing. Try this one.- Thank you very much.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51- So, herring with sherry washed down with vodka.- First, vodka.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54Mm.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58So smooth, isn't it?
0:17:59 > 0:18:00One, two.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Mm, that's lovely.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16I thought it would be very, very strong and fishy, but it's not.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18It's perfect old herring.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22There's more to Polish cuisine than herring and dumplings.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25This delicious tripe soup with ginger, cinnamon
0:18:25 > 0:18:31and cardamom is a culinary blend of the empires that once ruled Poland.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33The Polish people, who were under foreign occupation
0:18:33 > 0:18:34more or less continuously
0:18:34 > 0:18:39for two centuries from 1795, have recently experienced a rebirth.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44And that is accompanied by a renaissance in Polish cuisine.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52After my tasty supper, I'm ready to turn in for the night.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55My guidebook recommends the Hotel Bristol
0:18:55 > 0:19:00named after the celebrated British traveller, the 4th Earl of Bristol.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03The name became a byword for luxury across the continent.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Shipshape and Bristol fashion.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23A new day in Warsaw. I'm leaving this vibrant capital
0:19:23 > 0:19:28of today's independent Poland to head into its industrial heartland.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36My next destination is a city synonymous with the Industrial Revolution -
0:19:36 > 0:19:39the Manchester of Poland.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50- Can you help me with my Polish pronunciation?- Of course we can.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I'm on my way to L-O-D-Z.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57- How do you pronounce that? - It's "woodj."- "Woodj?"- "Woodj."
0:19:57 > 0:20:00But it begins with an L. How do you get a "w" sound?
0:20:00 > 0:20:07It's two different letters. It's "l" and "w" in Polish alphabet.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12"L" and "w." Right, so L with a line makes it a W.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15- What about at the end? You said "woodj."- "Woodj."
0:20:15 > 0:20:22Yes, because it's not D-Z, it's like Z with a line.
0:20:22 > 0:20:29- Z with a line?- Yes.- It's Z but with the D it's pronounced "dj".
0:20:29 > 0:20:32What else should I look out for in Polish?
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Well, you have different kinds of "oo" as well.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40- So, in Lodz, the L has a line... - Yes.- ..the O has a line...
0:20:40 > 0:20:42- Yes.- ..and the Z has a line?
0:20:42 > 0:20:47- Yes.- You chose a very difficult city to go to!
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Well, my goodness your English is beautiful!
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Where did you both learn your English?
0:20:52 > 0:20:54- In high school.- Really?- Yes.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56We were in the same class in high school.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59- To that standard in high school? - Yes.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01We are so bad at languages. I am humbled.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Thank you. That's nice.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21"I'm continuing my journey across 1913 Russian Poland
0:21:21 > 0:21:25"in a south-westerly direction towards the city of Lodz.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28"A population of 408,000 says Bradshaw's,
0:21:28 > 0:21:29"the chief town of the district
0:21:29 > 0:21:33"and the most important centre of the textile industry in Poland."
0:21:33 > 0:21:37A material fact, for whilst Britain had her dark Satanic mills
0:21:37 > 0:21:43in places like Manchester, Russia had hers in cities like Lodz.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00I'm leaving the train to discover what remains
0:22:00 > 0:22:02of that industrial heritage.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05A century ago,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09these immense factories supplied the vast Russian Empire.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16The Industrial Revolution brought phenomenal population growth
0:22:16 > 0:22:20to Lodz from about 800 people to about 400,000 in the 80 years
0:22:20 > 0:22:22before my Bradshaw's guide.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Now the textile mills have been converted into a shopping centre.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36I'm meeting my guide, Jacek Paczesny,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38at a perfect city vantage point.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41These buildings are magnificent.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Why was Lodz chosen for industrialization?
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Generally, it was a good location for a city which made
0:22:48 > 0:22:53the authorities grant the city the title of factory settlement.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55It was something like a special economic zone.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58And I suppose the railways must have made a difference, too?
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Yes. The railways definitely were essential.
0:23:01 > 0:23:07The first big date is 1848 when the Vienna Warsaw railway
0:23:07 > 0:23:13was opened and it passed just 30km to the Eastern border of Lodz.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18By the time of my 1913 guide, Lodz had been transformed.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22It was a city of great contrast.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Between cultures, it was a bustling multicultural city,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27people of four different regions,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Polish, Jewish, Russian, German living together.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Second, contrast between wealth and poverty.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35A lot of people lived in wooden houses,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37the sewage was flowing through the streets.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40On the other hand, there was these marvellous palaces,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44privately owned green spaces with a fee entrance that exceeded
0:23:44 > 0:23:46the salary of the worker.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Andrej Wajda's 1975 epic film The Promised Land
0:23:53 > 0:23:57was based on Wladyslaw Reymont's novel,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59a mordant critique of capitalism.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It depicted life in Lodz as a vicious rat race.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15In the 19th century, Lodz gave Manchester a run for its money.
0:24:17 > 0:24:23But today the city prefers to compare itself to Los Angeles.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28What happens to a manufacturing city in the post-industrial age?
0:24:28 > 0:24:31In Lodz, part of the answer has been to create a film school,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36some of whose graduates are directors of international fame.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41And now they've created a walkway of the stars.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Not for nothing is this place now known as "Holly-woodj."
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Andrej Wajda studied at a film school here in Lodz.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55In fact, many of Poland's most celebrated directors
0:24:55 > 0:24:56cut their teeth here.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01I've arranged to meet Piotr Sitarski, Professor of Film Studies,
0:25:01 > 0:25:06to ask him about the history of cinema in this old industrial town.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08When did the cinema first come to Lodz?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Very early.
0:25:10 > 0:25:151896. You know, this was a centre of textile industry
0:25:15 > 0:25:18with a huge number of proletarian workers.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Most of them were Poles but you also had Jews and Germans
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and visual entertainment was ideal for them. You know, silent movies.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And, of course, being silent they didn't have to understand
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- any of the language.- Exactly!
0:25:30 > 0:25:34After the Second World War, a film school was founded
0:25:34 > 0:25:38in Lodz because it was a place where cinema was popular.
0:25:38 > 0:25:44A film school in the 1950s within the Soviet empire sounds
0:25:44 > 0:25:46is that a bit subversive, a bit liberal?
0:25:46 > 0:25:52Yes, it is. Ironically because it was designed as a place where
0:25:52 > 0:25:54propagandists were to be trained.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Instead, it turned out that it really offered a lot of freedom
0:25:58 > 0:26:01for the students and for the teachers,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05and a good example are the films the students could watch,
0:26:05 > 0:26:06films from around the world.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09So this was really a liberal place.
0:26:12 > 0:26:13I'm no De Niro
0:26:13 > 0:26:17but as this film school maintains a very high reputation,
0:26:17 > 0:26:24maybe I can pick up some tips from Poland's finest fledgling movie-makers?
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Hello. I hope I'm not interrupting. I'm Michael.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- Of course not. I'm Adam. - So what are you doing here?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33I'm shooting this scene right here. I'm shooting in a hospital.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36We have a girl who's going to be playing a schizophrenic
0:26:36 > 0:26:39and we are going to have you play as a doctor.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- OK. Psychiatric doctor.- Of course.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43- Let me just psych myself up for that one.- Sure.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48One of the oldest film schools in the world,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Lodz prides itself on a hands-on approach,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54teaching its students the practical skills needed to make a movie.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58All right, so when you're walking in, when you move from here,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01go here, here, here, here,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04and then you place it down and then you look at her.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07We're going to have this shot right here of you confronting her.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- WHISPERS:- This could be my big breakthrough!
0:27:14 > 0:27:18- Kamera. Poszla.- Ton 16ty.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Action.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26SHE MUMBLES IN POLISH
0:27:34 > 0:27:36All right, perfect.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Super. Nie bierz tabletki!
0:27:38 > 0:27:40LAUGHTER
0:27:40 > 0:27:42- Jeszcze raz?- Nie, spoko.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45- Brilliant, thank you so much. - Thanks so much.- Thank you.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Great.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51On the second part of my journey through Poland,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55I'll stoke up what is possibly the last steam-powered commuter train...
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Done a bit of this in England.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00I don't remember it being quite as hot as this!
0:28:02 > 0:28:06..and rumble through the streets, Soviet-style, in a motoring icon.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Car is very elastic, too. Look!
0:28:09 > 0:28:10MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:28:10 > 0:28:11In case of the next accident
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I hope it will just bounce back from other car.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16- Let's hope so.- Jump in, it's open.