https://globalfilmstudies.com/2013/11/08/walesa-man-of-hope-poland-2013/ An introduction to global film for teachers and students Sat, 09 Nov 2013 10:37:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ https://globalfilmstudies.com/2013/11/08/walesa-man-of-hope-poland-2013/comment-page-1/#comment-331 Sat, 09 Nov 2013 10:37:52 +0000 http://itpworld.wordpress.com/?p=9641#comment-331 Firstly, the archive material used in the film has been cropped [and I think once stretched] to fit the widescreen format. I don’t like this and I find it distracting. I also worry that a number of serious filmmakers [including Ken Loach and Margarethe von Trotta] has also used this technique recently.
Secondly, Walesa was a conservative figure, witness his pal act with the pope. One problem with the film is that this is not really examined critically. We do learn about his enforced co-operation with state security early in his career, but he is also a demagogue and I don’t think the film really addresses that. There is little characterisation of the ordinary workers involved in the struggle or of the intellectuals. In fact, i felt we had a better idea of state security figures than of members of the mass movement.
Roy is right about the woman character, one of the more postive angles. This is also true of one of my favourites of his films, Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1977). But in this film the investigation of a pulbic figure is carried out by a young filmmaker. The reflexivity this provides seems to me much more effective than the journalistic interview in Man of Hope.

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