L'homme du peuple

a portrait. a homage. a form of definition of a struggle. at the first sigh. in fact, a film about an ordinary man who has the chance to be part of a great change. the film represents the mark of Andrzey Wayda. the technique, the construction of story, references to his filmography, the tone, the dialogues, the spirit of wake up of a profound Poland . it is not a biopic but a testimony. it is not a demonstration but only an exercise to propose a slice of recent history for understand a cause. it is easy to define it as an eulogy. in fact, it is only a tool for explain. for describe. for impose the final part of a project who explains Poland and its fight under communism. a high ambition result could be unclear for viewers. and Wales is not exactly an exception. but a good support for discover Wajda films. for search the trajectory of Lech Walesa. for remind the recent past of Poland. and the values who remain its roots.

Biopics can often be dull affairs and 'Walesa, Man of Hope' does not initially inspire, with its corny subtitle and hackneyed framing (the man giving an interview in which eh looks back on his life). But Lech Walesa was (and is) an genuinely interesting man who moreover was cursed to live in interesting times: a not-so-humble ordinary man who more or less appointed himself to lead a group of striking miners in Poland, a rabble-rouser yet a realist, and arguably the leading global symbol of resistance to the late-era communist dictatorships in eastern Europe. Film-make Andrzej Wadja lived through this time himself, and while his portrait of Walesa is compelling though simplistic (his strengths, it is suggested, did not lie in his subtlety of character), we also see exactly how the regime retained power. Some of my favourite moves were made by Kieslowski in the hopeless aftermath of the period of martial law imposed in the early 1980s; this film tells us more about why that martial law was imposed, and also, why the hopelessness it inspired was ultimately misplaced. The Communist officials come across as less pure evil, but as ordinary people themselves, who've talked themselves into a position where they perceive they have no choice but to run a broken and oppressive system. Walesa challenged them and ultimately was a major force for change. And Wadja's film is a convincing portrait of the man and his times.

WALESA: A MAN OF HOPE : A MISNOMER DOCUMENTARY

BY PRADIP BISWAS, THE Indian EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS, India JURY MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF India AND FRIGOURG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SWISS

44TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF India, GOA, 2013

At the age of 87, that remarkable Polish film-maker Andrzej Wajda has directed a documentary with false gusto called WALESA : A MAN OF HOPE. It is of 87 minute duration. The lead performance is done by Robert Wieckiewicz. It is said it's a biopic tribute to the trade-union leader Lech Wałesa, founder of the Solidarity movement: bullish, cantankerous, and finally wrong doer as his movement could not bring the golden age for the Socialist countries that he in association with CIA lobby uprooted. This is such a truth many would hate to be convinced. But it is true, very true and true again. Wałesa's defiance of Poland's Soviet masters removed the very first brick from the Berlin Wall. Famously, Wałesa was the one subversive trade-union leader whom Margaret Thatcher felt able to love: Arthur Scargill did not enjoy the same admiration. So is Lindsay Anderson, the angry unbritish British director, founder of FREE CINEMA

Wałesa: Man of Hope is a belated companion piece to his Man of Marble (1977) and Man of Iron (1981) respectively. It discloses now an unexpected trilogy, and somehow hints it. In retrospect, that the heroic "Man" of those first two films really was Wałesa all along, so said Peter Bradshaw, the right-winger critic of THE GUARDIAN. It starts as a shipyard electrician, devoted to his young wife Danuta, (Agnieszka Grochowska), and to their growing family, and radicalised by the Gdansk shipyard riot of 1970. Amusingly, Wajda, armed with his skewed perception. idolizes Wałesa's luxuriant moustache that made him famous and recognizable: the anti-Stalin in the cause of freedom. His activism moreover coincided with the sensational arrival of the charismatic new Polish Pope John Paul II; the Catholic Wałesa was a key political beneficiary. It's an invigorating and very enjoyable film from a director who shows no sign of slowing down.

Winner of Nobel Peace Prize, Walesa in fact brought down socialism with a hope that his new State would bring golden age to those betrayed by the corrupt socialist regimes. Good. Good to that extent that hold some iota of substance. But after that??? The regime that he brought about for the betrayed people of Poland just failed to deliver goods as the hope of the big Capitalist Nations poured not an inch of financial succour to the hard-hit Poland. The common people who used to get free ration, food, milk and education are all gone for a burton, for ever. The current Poland is neither Socialist country nor a proud Capitalist country. It is in economic shamble.

What the great Wajda has done is to show the false side of the coin. We cannot accept such

It was in the post-WWII, Stalinist, Communist, Cold War, era, that the Polish Director Andrzej Wajda set his 1977 film 'Man of Marble'. Remarkably it was made in the Communist-era. The era was post-Stalinist and so the earlier Stalinist setting of the film helped get it past the censors. It starred Jerzy Radziwilowicz and Krystyna Janda. The fictional story of the era was told via the making of a film, found-footage material, and interviews. All put together and filmed in such a way as to be totally believable. A great film.

This reviewer, having had the chance to see the film in the years shortly after it was released, being impressed with the film, and following political events in Poland, was excited to hear of a sequel. This was called 'Man of Iron' (1981).

'MoI' picked up where 'MoM' ended. It too starred JZ and KJ. Similar in style to the previous film, it brought the fictional story, that dramatized, fictionalized, and mirrored, real life events, and brought them up to that present day era.

Now Director Andrjez Wajda has made a third film which can perhaps be viewed as the final part in what is now a trilogy. It is titled 'Walesa. Man of Hope' in the anglicized form. Film was shown in Polish with English sub-titles. Using the technique of an interview, it then tells the story to the audience via flashbacks for much of the film. 'W.MoH' covers some of the same ground as 'MoI', however this is not a fictional story but is the true story of Lech Walesa. Incidentally perhaps, the title of the Lech Walesa autobiography is 'A Way of Hope'.

Robert Wieckiewicz is Lech Walesa. I do not say that lightly. He seems to capture the character and the mannerisms perfectly. The younger Walesa is attractive, arrogant and cocky. He is uneducated but technically minded. He is not bookish but is a good talker. As the younger Lech grows older, RW continues to convince in the role.

Agnieszka Grochowska is Danuta Walesa. She too convinces as we see her age during the film. Her husband is a man committed to a cause. She shows what it is like to be married to such a man.

Poland is a communist state. The Polish United Workers' Party, aka the Communist Party, was in theory the organized vanguard of the proletarians. In reality it did not lead, but rather oppressed the workers. Poland was not a workers' state but a police-state. Even the unions were part of the oppressive state apparatus rather than genuine representatives of the workers. They were merely stooge unions. All this is shown well in the film. Film shows how individuals have to navigate their way around the brutal and oppressive police-state. As Andrzej Wajda had to compromise, negotiate, and navigate his way around, to get 'MoM' made, so too did everybody else in Poland. All were touched by the police-state and had to react as they thought best at the time.

Communist theory is that individuals do not matter and that only economic forces and class-struggle are important in changing history. Others can point to individuals that have changed history. The film shows well, most particularly in one scene, the truly squalid life style of the workers. Into this mix came, though just touched on in this film, Karol Wojtyla. On the 16/10/78 he became Pope John Paul II. Be it economic forces, or individuals, that changed history, it was clear that here in Poland a struggle was taking place.

Lech Walesa was at the heart of this struggle. We see him trying to work for his cause. These days we are familiar with revolutions organized by social-networking sites. In those days the underground had a much more primitive underground way of communicating. The samizdat scenes in the film, enable Director Andrzej Wajda to incorporate a brief scene from the film 'MoI' with the actors JR and KJ. Thus does art imitate life and does that life incorporate the art too. As we discovered in 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' (1962), "When the legend becomes the fact, print the legend!" The film covers most of the important dates, events, and facts. Bar one. On the 13/5/81 there was an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. It is now generally accepted who instigated this plot. However this does not seem to have had any bearing on events later. Academics, historians, and others, now generally accept that the 'Brezhnev Doctrine', a publicly stated position since 1968, though one that merely reiterated previous policy, eg. in 1956, that 'Brezhnev Doctrine' was not going to be enforced.

'W.MoH' is able to stand alone as a film. If you wish to view it in a wider context, then 'MoM', then 'MoI', should be viewed first in that chronological order. However it is not necessary. This is a great stand-alone film. Greater context is not needed to appreciate and enjoy this film.

After Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa is perhaps the second most famous Pole in the world. This film is a great tribute to Lech Walesa.

A great director has made a great film about a great man. As such it is a fitting monument to both of them.

The Poles have been accused of being heroic and ungovernable. They are guilty as charged.

Great film. True story. 10/10.

An amazing depiction of an amazing charismatic person who risked his own life to change history of his country and he did it! Being a simple worker he successfully challenged the communist system. The movie shows Walesa for who he really was: cocky, self absorbed, but very brave and unselfish at the same time. His predominant fight was that of freedom and better life for all Polish people. Dealing with such serious issues, the movie contains a huge dose of humour showing Walesa as a funny person. The movie is quite fast paced, keeps you engaged as well as gives you a history lesson that's not boring. A definite must see! especially for those under the age of 30 who don't remember those events.