One thing you don’t think of when you think of subways is feminine. The industrial, phallic machine, controlled space where no one and nothing loves, sanitary. The subways in “Kontroll” is different,, however. It is dirty, dark and wet. The characters are shown living in the subway, inhabiting it like rats. Bulscu gets noticeably bloodier as the movie goes on, in fact it starts with him bleeding.

One of the most convincingly characteristically feminine scenes is the dream sequence where the beautiful girl in a bear suit leads him to a tight tunnel he must crawl though. The tunnel itself is very different from the rest of the movie, being earthy and wet. Finally he comes across a small hold where the shadow man in curled up in a fetal position.

Another reason it is feminine space is because it can be seen as a metaphor for rebirth. Bulscu had done something wrong and so is cast into the underworld to atone for his sins. He kills the shadowy beast that may be a part of him and is reborn.

This can also be seen as an allegory for heaven and hell. The subway is definitely unpleasant enough to be hellish and he is again there because he did something wrong. In the end he must die to get out and leaves with the girl in angel costume up the escalator into the light.

This very process can also be seen as a representation of communism. The subway is itself a fine symbol for communism; it is very drab, nothing works but there is a pretense of control. One cannot leave the system while still inside of it, escape comes only from leaving the country. So he must leave the underground entirely to be free. It is important that he considers it “home,” because leaving ones country constitutes leaving home behind. This interpretation is reinforced by the fact that the underground is the only part of the country shown, making it represent the entire country.

The outcasts who live and make their living in the subway turn the space into a lived one. Bela eats his meals there and decorates his train car in a very private way with religious symbols. Bulscu actually lives there, sleeping on the platforms, as does the narcoleptic at times. During the metro part scene, people are shown having sex in the subway, a very private thing.

The sewers in “Kanal” seem like a very unpleasant space. Many times we are lead to believe it is an allegory for hell. It is dirty, dark, wet and fear of suffocation and gas are common paranoia. The artist character, when first entering the space, quotes Dante. In Dante the people drowning in their own shit are hypocrites, and in this movie there is definitely a sense that everyone is getting what they deserve: Almost all of them end up dead, the naive, love-struck girl committing suicide, the man who tricked her getting caught by the Germans, the overbearing leader being driven to madness, wandering the sewers looking for his lost company.

Madness is definitely a huge theme: Daisy’s lover becoming mad with fever and the artist wandering the sewers obsessed with the music of them. The artist is an interesting character, not a professional actor, one wonders what he is doing with a company of soldiers in the midst of a war. In the sewer he becomes obsessed with the music of them. He begins to play the ocarina, a traditional Polish instrument. In the end all that is left of Poland is the sewers, so in essence the sewers represent all there is of Poland. He wanders them obsessed with the music which becomes the music of Poland.

Daisy also becomes an allegory for Poland. She is initially portrayed as promiscuous, even a prostitute. She is familiar with the underworld of Poland and can maneuver them. Eventually this knowledge is her redemption. She is forgiven after sacrificing to try and save the man she loves.