Man of Iron (1981)

A worker becomes a "man of iron" forged by experience, a son comes to terms with his father, a couple fall in love, a reporter searches for courage, and a nation undergoes historic change. ... See full summary »

Director:

Andrzej Wajda

Writer:

Aleksander Scibor-Rylski (scenario)

Stars:

Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Krystyna Janda, Marian Opania

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerzy Radziwilowicz	...	Maciej Tomczyk / Mateusz Birkut
Krystyna Janda	...	Agnieszka
Marian Opania	...	Winkel
Wieslawa Kosmalska	...	Wieslawa Hulewicz
Irena Byrska	...	Matka Hulewicz
Boguslaw Linda	...	Dzidek
Lech Walesa	...	Lech Walesa
Anna Walentynowicz	...	Anna Walentynowicz
Jerzy Borowczak	...	Stanislaw J. Borowczak (as Stanislaw J. Borowczak)
Zbigniew Lis	...	Zbigniew Lis
Teodor Kudla	...	Teodor Kudla
Franciszek Trzeciak	...	Badecki
Janusz Gajos	...	Z-Ca Szefa
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Kapt. Wirski
Marek Kondrat	...	Grzenda

Storyline

A worker becomes a "man of iron" forged by experience, a son comes to terms with his father, a couple fall in love, a reporter searches for courage, and a nation undergoes historic change. In Warsaw in 1980, the Party sends Winkel, a weak, alcoholic TV hack, to Gdansk to dig up dirt on the shipyard strikers, particularly on Maciek Tomczyk, an articulate worker whose father was killed in the December 1970 protests. Posing as sympathetic, Winkel interviews people who know Tomczyk, including his detained wife, Agnieszka. Their narrations become flashbacks using actual news footage of 1968 and 1970 protests and of the later birth of free unions and Solidarity.

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Plot Keywords:

worker | shipyard | 1970s | solidarity | protest | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

27 July 1981 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Man of Iron

Filming Locations:

Central Station, Gdansk, Pomorskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Polski, Zespól Filmowy "X"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

156 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film got an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. However, because of the martial law in Poland, the communist authorities decided to withdraw it from competing for the award as they didn't want it to represent Poland. The winner in the category was eventually the Hungarian film "Mephisto", which previously lost the Golden Palm at Cannes with Wajda's movie.

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Quotes

Maciej Tomczyk: You know why? Because students and workers all act alone. When we moved; they held back; now they're moving and we're scared. We'll always lose this way.

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Connections

Referenced in 13 posterunek: Kalambury filmowe (1998)

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Soundtracks

Piosenka dla Corki
Lyrics by Krzysztof Kasprzyk
Music by Maciej Pietrzyk

User Reviews

A classic...

There's just one thing that strikes me as odd and keeps me from giving the film ten stars. The wonderful protagonist of Man Of Marble, Agnieszka, is turned here into a stereotypical, boring wife/girlfriend. At a time of great historical importance , when issues she deeply cared about were the talk of Europe, all she finds time to discuss with a reporter who visits her at the detention center is romance. I'm having a hard time picturing the dedicated, driven and idealistic young person we know from Man Of Marble gasp unintelligibly about a child when her husband is on strike with Lech Walesa. A needless and surprising flaw in an otherwise great film.