Smierc jak kromka chleba (1994)

The violence and high drama of this film is taken directly from recent Polish history. On December 13, 1981 national security forces swoop down on unsuspecting workers of the Wujek mine and... See full summary »

Director:

Kazimierz Kutz

Writer:

Kazimierz Kutz

Stars:

Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Trela, Jerzy Radziwilowicz

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Janusz Gajos	...	Miodek
Jerzy Trela	...	Skarga
Jerzy Radziwilowicz	...	Priest
Mariusz Benoit	...	Krasucki
Roman Gancarczyk	...	Jurek Putek
Jan Peszek	...	Colonel
Przemyslaw Branny	...	Tadeusz
Ryszard Jasinski	...	Gladysz
Szymon Kusmider	...	Grzegorz Handy
Teresa Budzisz-Krzyzanowska	...	Doctor
Anna Dymna	...	Miner Józef's Wife
Malgorzata Hajewska	...	Nurse Ania
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanislaw Banas
Maja Barelkowska	...	Nurse (as Maja Cyrwus)
Adam Baumann	...	Miner

Storyline

The violence and high drama of this film is taken directly from recent Polish history. On December 13, 1981 national security forces swoop down on unsuspecting workers of the Wujek mine and arrest a Solidarity leader. Pushed to the limits, the miners call a massive strike, which is specifically forbidden under the martial law. A battle between the heavily armed police and the outnumbered miners ensues, and nine miners are killed.

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Plot Keywords:

miner | martial law | solidarity | army | tank | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

7 May 1994 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Death as a Slice of Bread

Filming Locations:

Katowice, Slaskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych (WFD)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the Colonel is forced to view the six miners killed by his Milizia sharp-shooters, the first and the third miner's eyelids (shown in a camera left-to-right traveling) move.

User Reviews

Good

This film is a sad picture about the 16th December 1981 in the Wujek mine in Katowice. As it is well known, after declarations that the country of Polnad is in a state of war and after the arrest of the leader of "The Solidarity", the miners went on strike in order for the authorities to neglect their previous declarations, free the miners' colleague and make the ruling power accept the documents of the "Porozumienie Jastrzębskie". On the 16th of December after trying to end the strike without the use of force, a tank broke into the mine crashing the compound's wall. The forces of the police and ZOMO broke into the mine's territory. There was a fight and shots were fired. Six miners were killed, while there were three more casualties from the given wounds. In the place those bloody events, the miners put a cross.

The movie about the tragedy in Wujek was directed by Kazimierz Kutz who is a director of "The Salt of the Black Earth" and "The Pearl in the Crown" - other moving stories about earlier problem of the people of Śląsk. A special committee in the mine was created to help to gather the money for the production (But the gathering of the money which was collected all over the country was unsuccessful and didn't get the predicted results).

In 1994 the movie was awarded at the Gdańsk Film Festival. It was given a special Jury Award as well as The Mayor of Gdańsk Award.