How I Unleashed World War II (Polish: Jak rozpętałem drugą wojnę światową) is a 1970 Polish comedy film directed by Tadeusz Chmielewski and based on the novel Przygody kanoniera Dolasa (The Adventures of Dolas the Cannoneer) by Kazimierz Sławiński, a Polish war pilot who survived a German POW camp. It was shot in Sochi, Baku, Poświętne and Łódź, among other places.
Synopsis
The film was divided into three parts:
Część I: Ucieczka (Part I: The Escape)
Część II: Za bronią (Part II: Following the Arms)
Część III: Wśród swoich (Part III: Among Friends)
The film tells the story of a Polish soldier Franciszek (Franek) Dolas, who—as a result of comical coincidences—is convinced that he started the Second World War. Trying to redeem himself at all costs, he constantly gets into new trouble. In doing so, he finds himself on different war fronts (Yugoslavia, Mediterranean Sea, Middle East, Italy) and eventually returns to Poland.
In a particularly famous scene, Dolas is questioned by a German-speaking Gestapo officer in Austria and answers that his name is "Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz"; the officer gets increasingly frustrated trying to write the fictitious Polish name.
Originally filmed in black and white, it was digitally colorized in 2001 by the Hollywood company Dynacs Digital Studios, as requested by the Studio Filmowe "Oko" and TV Polsat.