Sewer footage.


Does anyone know if that is actual footage or studio? If it's real, how on earth did the cast and crew do that without getting sick. I got queasy just watching it. Some of the comments on the Criterion edition supplements led me to believe they did actually film on location.

reply

It was filmed in a studio and the sewers were made to look very similar to the actual sewers in Warsaw. They did try to film in the sewer system, but the conditions were unbearable and there was no way of getting a quality looking takes, simply because of lack of space. As an additional piece of trivia I can say that most of the gun ordnance used in the movie was real surplus stock.

reply

It's quite obvious that such quality footage could not have been shot in actual sewers. But they still managed a very powerful recreation of the underground tunnels. I can imagine that the cultured Cannes audience in 1957 may have been quite shocked.

reply