As an faithful adaptation of Kruczkowski's work, this movie works fine. Most of the time it succeeds in avoiding the static, theatrical feeling of the play. Ford was acknowledged master of the spectacle, and it shows here. Some of the scenes are impressive. The dramatic finale is almost as good, and it contains Ford's usual trademark: the house with devastated, winding stairs. As a symbol it's in the right place, as it represents the sad aftermath of war. All in all, "The first day of freedom" is maybe not a masterpiece of The Polish Film School, but a quite satisfying entry. Unfortunately, this was Aleksander Ford's last Polish movie. In 1968 he was condemned by authorities because of his Jewish origins and expelled from the country. This fall from grace has the devastating effect on him. He has never recovered from depression, and all his foreign, ill-fated movies are the testimony to it. Once a Car, now an outcast, he committed suicide in 1980.