Man of Iron (1981)

Original title

Człowiek z żelaza

Directed by

Andrzej Wajda

Genre

drama film, historical film

Country

Poland

Runtime

2h 27m

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 94 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A journalist working for the communist regime is sent to dig up dirt on a young shipyard worker who helped start a major strike. The film follows the worker's involvement in the anti-communist labor movement and shows the government's eventual recognition of an independent union. It is set during a brief period of relaxed censorship in Poland.

tensepoliticalurgentmelancholicgrittyhopefulslow-burnearnest

What happens

Man of Iron (Polish: Człowiek z żelaza) is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize workers' right to an independent union. The film continues the story of Maciej Tomczyk, the son of Mateusz Birkut, the protagonist of Wajda's earlier film, Man of Marble. Here, Maciej is a young worker involved in the anti-Communist labour movement, described as "the man who started the Gdańsk Shipyard strike", and a journalist working for the Communist regime's radio station, who is given the task of slandering Maciej. The young man is clearly intended as a parallel to Lech Wałęsa (who appears as himself in the movie). Man of Iron clarifies the ending of Man of Marble, which left the death of Mateusz Birkut ambiguous. Man of Iron explicitly states that Mateusz was killed in clashes at the shipyards in 1970. The film was made during the brief thaw in Communist censorship that appeared between the formation of Solidarity in August 1980 and its suppression in December 1981, and as such it is remarkably critical of the Communist regime. Because of this it was banned in 1981 by the Polish government. The film won the Palme d'Or and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese later recognized the film as one of the masterpieces of Polish cinema. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Short Working Day (1981)
• Fever (1981)
• Dreszcze (1981)
• Wahadelko (1981)
• W biały dzień (1981)
• Wizja lokalna 1901 (1981)
• Hands Up! (1981)
• Ciosy (1981)