RES 291.01: Perspectives in Twentieth-Century Central and Eastern European Literature
Grinnell College
Spring, 2004
MWF 11:00-11:50; Mears Cottage 115

armstron@grinnell.edu

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8-jan-04

Tuesday, April 24

Man of Marble Directed by Andrzej Wajda , 1976

 

Below you will find a number of questions and information about Man of Marble. Please consider these as an outline for Wednesday's discussion.

Links:

Awesome Wajda official site (see his autobiographical notes): http://www.wajda.pl/en/filmy.html
Film reviews from the Wajda site: http://www.wajda.pl/en/filmy/film20.html

Discussion Questions:

1. According to art historians, "the cinema of moral concern" was born out of the film, Man of Marble and Wajda’s call for "a new consciousness for Poland". In what ways does the film tackle the moral issues faced by Poland? How does the director’s unusual style of narrative further examine these issues? (See Andrew Horton’s "Hollywood Finally Cottons On," available at http://www.ce-review.org/00/12/kinoeye12_horton.html).

2.This is clearly a film about the role of the director/filmmaker as well as one about our role as viewers. What view does Wajda hold about the functioning of these roles--and how does he go about exploring these functions?

3. How does Wajda’s film of "moral concern" differ from his earlier explorations in "Ashes and Diamonds?" How do the similarities or differences point to the situation in Poland at the time each were filmed?

4. Facets Media's catalogue writes the following: "Thirteen years in the making, Wajda's film caused packed houses to rise and sing the Polish national anthem when it finally premiered in Poland in 1977. Denied entrance at Cannes by Polish authorities, it played nonetheless at a commercial theater there and won the International Critics' Prize. Hailed as "a milestone in Polish cinema", Man of Marble is the story of a young filmmaker trying to reconstruct a truthful picture of the Stalinist past, a past obscured by 20 years of shifting propaganda." What is this "truthful picture," i.e., what does the young filmmaker find out about the past in Poland?

5. A Polish reveiwer, Krzystof Klopotowski, writing in a 1980 Polish publication, states "Andrzej Wajda had carefully balanced historical and moral arguments. At one end of the scale he put human fate, at the other - material progress, but he didn't say which side "weighed" more." Do you agree?

The information found on this page has been in large part compiled by Richele Brafford '01. The site is maintained by Richele and Todd Armstrong. All materials are intended solely for academic purposes.

Last modified: February 12, 2001.

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