THE CINEMA OF MORAL CONCERN POLISH CINEMA IN THE 1970s
Poland in the 1970s 1970: Food prices increased, riots (brutally suppressed) followed. The First Secretary of the Communist Party, Gomułka, replaced by Edward Gierek. Later in the decade: the “Golden Age” economy of borrowing; another crisis and formation of opposition.
Poland in the 1970s 1976: Strikes. 1978: the Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, elected Pope as John Paul II. The nation’s opposition solidified through church, trade unions, underground media, and unofficial culture.
The Cinema of Moral Concern The term coined by Janusz Kijowski; first used by Wajda in 1979. Refers to realistic films of late 1970s that focus on contemporary problems, moral choices, ethical issues of individuals, often in conflict with the state.
The Cinema of Moral Concern JERZY SZTUR IN KIEŚLOWSKI’S AMATOR (1979) MAIN REPRESENTATIVES Established masters, such as Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi, and a younger (“Third”) generation: Janusz Kijowski, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Agnieszka Holland, Felix Falk. The Cinema of Moral Concern
Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1976) Director: Andrzej Wajda. Starring: Krystyna Janda, Jerzy Radziwiłowicz. Time: the 1970s and 1950s. Place: Nowa Huta. Theme: socialist propaganda lies and moral corruption of the system. Protagonists: a winner of Stakhanovite socialist competition and a young filmmaker.