Man of Marble, directed by Andrzej Wajda, who also directed Ashes and Diamonds, explores the history of Stalinization and political thaw of Poland through the perspective of a documentarian of the 1970’s and the experience of a bricklayer in the 1950’s. The film, based on the American film Citizen Kane, follows the journey of Agnieszka, a film student trying to create a documentary about Mateusz Birkut, an average bricklayer in a new utopian communist Polish town.
The film’s final scenes of Birkit partaking in the labour protests of 1972 were cut off from the film by the film ministry due to its blunt depiction of the brutality of the government. It makes the ending of the film a little too ambiguous for the present audience to understand. Was killed because of politics. The labour march of 1972 saw the worker fighting against a political party that constitutes that it is a party of workers.
The film’s final scenes of Birkit partaking in the labour protests of 1972 were cut off from the film by the film ministry due to its blunt depiction of the brutality of the government. It makes the ending of the film a little too ambiguous for the present audience to understand. Was killed because of politics. The labour march of 1972 saw the worker fighting against a political party that constitutes that it is a party of workers.
Themes
The Art of Propaganda
We learn from the start of the film not only is the film about a film investigating at an unfinished film, it is showing multiple constructions that all had to be approved by the committee of films. The film, from its first scene, shows the involvement the government had in creating the ideal socialist construction. A new kind of proletariat and collective for a soviet utopia is shown by establishing an artificial landscape, audience etc. The only true thing is Birkit, the everyman. The manipulation of the ordinary in order to show the gloriousness in building a new utopia captures a sense of new nationalism. Films in the 70’s still created as an element of controlling the political system of political reeducation that Stalin had pushed for under his blend of aggression and diplomacy. Wajida shows on 1970’s perspective a perfect utopia but when Agnieszka investigates all we see is a political construction and manipulation.
The Everyman vs. The Government
Birkit was a gullible bricklayer who needed the opportunity to work. His rise in influence and power due to luck (i.e. being chosen by the party leader to be the star in the film) helped him comprehend the negative and darker side of living under a socialist regime. With the prevalence of Stalinist power and bureaucracy, he gets more agitated - disclaiming the lack of representation for the workers who are, ironically, the center of Marxist theory. He tried discussing how abusive the government has been in kidnapping his friend, yet his microphone is cut off by the socialist spy and music plays over his suffering. This everyman feeling connects him to the members of the audience. The government in the end crushes his dreams and hopes for a better quality of life for the laborers.
Gender
Agnieszka is the central proponent for exposing the corruptions of the past. She can thus be viewed as a modern analog for Birek. She is interested in American cinematography ideals such as the hand held camera technique and fights for her movie production to continue. Directed by a male, Wajida was very open about his opinions through film and saw a need for gender equality. This change in gender was not as evident as in the previous films we saw in class including Wajida’s Ashes and Diamonds. This transformation of the role of women in socialist film is really important to note at a time where still politically and creatively men were still at the lead.
We learn from the start of the film not only is the film about a film investigating at an unfinished film, it is showing multiple constructions that all had to be approved by the committee of films. The film, from its first scene, shows the involvement the government had in creating the ideal socialist construction. A new kind of proletariat and collective for a soviet utopia is shown by establishing an artificial landscape, audience etc. The only true thing is Birkit, the everyman. The manipulation of the ordinary in order to show the gloriousness in building a new utopia captures a sense of new nationalism. Films in the 70’s still created as an element of controlling the political system of political reeducation that Stalin had pushed for under his blend of aggression and diplomacy. Wajida shows on 1970’s perspective a perfect utopia but when Agnieszka investigates all we see is a political construction and manipulation.
The Everyman vs. The Government
Birkit was a gullible bricklayer who needed the opportunity to work. His rise in influence and power due to luck (i.e. being chosen by the party leader to be the star in the film) helped him comprehend the negative and darker side of living under a socialist regime. With the prevalence of Stalinist power and bureaucracy, he gets more agitated - disclaiming the lack of representation for the workers who are, ironically, the center of Marxist theory. He tried discussing how abusive the government has been in kidnapping his friend, yet his microphone is cut off by the socialist spy and music plays over his suffering. This everyman feeling connects him to the members of the audience. The government in the end crushes his dreams and hopes for a better quality of life for the laborers.
Gender
Agnieszka is the central proponent for exposing the corruptions of the past. She can thus be viewed as a modern analog for Birek. She is interested in American cinematography ideals such as the hand held camera technique and fights for her movie production to continue. Directed by a male, Wajida was very open about his opinions through film and saw a need for gender equality. This change in gender was not as evident as in the previous films we saw in class including Wajida’s Ashes and Diamonds. This transformation of the role of women in socialist film is really important to note at a time where still politically and creatively men were still at the lead.