Czlowiek z marmuru (1977)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writer:

Aleksander Scibor-Rylski (writer)

Release Date:

25 February 1977 (Poland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In 1976, a young woman in Krakow is making her diploma film, looking behind the scenes at the life of a 1950s bricklayer...

Plot Keywords:

Hero | Heroism | Friend | Ex Wife | Interview

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Jerzy Radziwilowicz	...	Mateusz Birkut / Maciej Tomczyk
Krystyna Janda	...	Agnieszka
Tadeusz Lomnicki	...	Jerzy Burski
Jacek Lomnicki	...	Young Burski
Michal Tarkowski	...	Wincenty Witek
Piotr Cieslak	...	Michalak
Wieslaw Wójcik	...	Jodla
Krystyna Zachwatowicz	...	Hanka
Magda Teresa Wójcik	...	Editor
Boguslaw Sobczuk	...	TV Producer
Leonard Zajaczkowski	...	Leonard Zajaczkowski, Cameraman
Jacek Domanski	...	Soundman
Irena Laskowska	...	Museum Employee
Zdzislaw Kozien	...	Agnieszka's Father
Wieslaw Drzewicz	...	Hanka's Husband

Also Known As:

Człowiek z marmuru (Poland)
Man of Marble

Runtime:

165 min | USA:160 min

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:13 | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Katowice, Poland

Company:

Film Polski Film Agency

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lekcja polskiego kina (2002)

A powerful indictment of Communism

Wajda's MAN OF MARBLE is one of the most compelling attacks on government corruption that I have ever seen. It is a "Citizen Kane"-styled story of a female film student who tries to trace the history of Birkut, a long-forgotten "hero" of the Polish Communist government.

She begins by viewing propaganda film that praises Birkut as a devout worker who slaves away at brick-laying for the officials. He has the appearance of a vigilant, Hercules-like strongman who breezes through the labor without breaking a sweat. Then she goes to interview the director, who was hired by the government. He tells her about the reality of making the film, such as how Birkut was given extra food and water (unlike the other bricklayers). Wajda uses these two conflicting scenes to deconstruct the false imagery that propaganda gives its viewers. He shows us how officials manipulate such situations to their own political good.

The student goes on to interview other subjects who describe the brutal reality of Birkut's off-camera existence. In one devastating scene, she meets his wife, who breaks down and tries to avoid being interviewed. As the truth becomes clearer and clearer, the government begins to intercede in the production of the student's film.

Wajda was a film-maker who was not afraid to criticize the harsh Polish government that eventually was defeated by individuals such as Lech Walesa. MAN OF MARBLE is a testament to those who had to live through the oppression of Communism, and also to those who are still living under its iron fist.