"Jak byc kochana" or "How to be loved" was made by polish director Wojciech Has in 1963. The movie centers around a women, named Felicja, travelling to Paris, all the while remembering her old life during the war in Poland, and her turbulent and complex relationship with a theater actor, Wiktor, who is forced to go into hiding in her apartment.
Albeit a simple and traditional story about the II World War, Has seemed to be more focused on the characters per se than the overarching context of the time. From the beginning, the contrast between the main characters positions is evident. Being theater actors, before the war, their entire "being" (in particular that of Wiktor) was defined by being the center of attentions, the receiver of the applause, and the adoration that comes with it. Once in the times of war, however, he not only loses his status, but also his "self", being reduced almost to bird trapped in a cage. With no freedom to go out, to socialize, throughout the movie he feels as though he doesn't exist anymore, extending even after the end of the war itself.
Felicja, on the other hand, is also portrayed as a caged bird, but not in relation to her role in society, but in her relation towards Wiktor, whom she deeply loves. Her whole identity and purpose is shaped towards making sure that his object of adoration stays under her "wings" during the war, establishing an inevitable relationship of toxic dependency between her and him.
All this, however is nothing but mere memories, conceptualizations of the mind, being reflected on by the "present" Felicja, one who, despite far from the dangers of war, is deeply sorrowed by the lost love it entailed.
Has consequently portrays something more than just another II World War drama. Here, the facts of war, despite being in the epicenter of the times, are thrown into the background, to instrumental means to represent the loss of liberty, the loss of individual autonomy and "self", the loss of purpose in the world. Despite showing in some scenes the horrors associated with war, the major condemnations it makes of it are shown on how the characters reorient themselves in times of distress. How can they live day-by-day? How can they have hope? How can they endure all the suffering? In sum, how can they find meaning in their lives? These are the questions the movie tries to answer.
