CZŁOWIEK Z ŻELAZA
MAN OF IRON
Andrzej Wajda explores the heart of the 1980 Polish revolution, which gave rise to the Solidarność-movement. In the midst of the shipyard workers' strike in Gdansk, journalist Winkel receives the volatile order to report on strike leader Maciej Tomczyk. While the journalist dives deeper into Maciej’s story, he discovers a complex family story and the burning soul of the resistance. Wajda not only captures the political and social revolutions in Poland during this time, but also skillfully outlines the moral conflict that Winkel faces. The realization that his work is being used to scheme against Tomczyk makes him doubt the meaning of his work. Because he understands him. Andrzej Wajda cleverly used the events of 1980 and shot large parts of the film during the actual strikes. For this he won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1981.
Text: Joshua Jádi
Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski
Edward Kłosiński
Jerzy Radziwiłowicz, Krystyna Janda
Andrzej Wajda - Andrzej Witold Wajda (6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. He was a prominent member of the "Polish Film School". He was known especially for his trilogy of war films consisting of A Generation (1955), Kanał (1957) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958).
He is considered one of the world's most renowned filmmakers, whose works chronicled his native country's political and social evolution and dealt with the myths of Polish national identity offering insightful analyses of the universal element of the Polish experience – the struggle to maintain dignity under the most trying circumstances.
Four of his films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: The Promised Land (1975),The Maids of Wilko (1979),Man of Iron (1981) and Katyń (2007).