SQUADRON

The Kingdom of Poland, January 1863: The young Russian aristocrat Fyodor Jeremin has joined the tsarist Dragon squadron as a volunteer. Though he signed up to help put down the recent Polish rebellion, he’s soon forced to face the fact that he’s fighting on the wrong side. The ideals of the good, the just and the beautiful reveal themselves to him in his romantic feelings for a young Polish woman who is supporting the partisans, while within his own ranks he has to contend with none other than the Polish cavalry captain Dobrowolski, who applies excessive force and arbitrariness to insurgents and civilians alike. In his sole foray into historical drama, Machulski imbues this Polish work of remembrance with great national gravitas.