With Fire and Sword (1999) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language

1999 · 175 mins · Polish

Loading streaming availability…

Directed by

Jerzy Hoffman

Starring

Zbigniew Zamachowski, Adam Ferency, Daniel Olbrychski, Krzysztof Kowalewski, Marek Kondrat, Andrzej Grabowski

Set in the mid‑17th century, when Poland‑Lithuania was Europe’s largest, most democratic and tolerant nation, the film follows the tragic civil war that began eroding the republic’s golden age. It dramatizes the Ukrainian uprising against the powerful magnates of the Polish‑Lithuanian Commonwealth, portraying a sweeping struggle for freedom and the empire’s slow decline.