''Walesa: Man of Hope'' ( ) is a 2013 Polish biopic film directed by

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

, starring Robert Więckiewicz as

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...

. Wajda stated at

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

's Off Plus Camera Film Festival in April 2012 that he foresaw trouble following the film's release. The film was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

86th Academy Awards The 86th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2013 in film, films of 2013 and took place on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5: ...

, but was not nominated.

Synopsis

Wałęsa, an electrician at the

Gdańsk Shipyard The Gdańsk Shipyard (, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk, northern Poland. The yard gained international fame when Polish trade union Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is sit ...

s, participated in local demonstrations during the 1970s. Following the bloody aftermath, which remains with Wałęsa, he concentrates on his day-to-day duties. Ten years later, a new uprising occurs and he becomes an unexpected and charismatic leader of Polish dockworkers. Wałęsa's leadership role signified the beginning of a new movement that successfully overcame the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime of the period, and Wałęsa is pushed into representing the majority of Poland's population. The

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, previously regarded as too powerful to confront, eventually grants the movement a degree of acceptance. The Polish example of solidarity then caused a

domino effect A domino effect is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a series of similar or related events, a form of chain reaction. The term is an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events ...

throughout

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

: people in

Eastern Germany The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 "old states" upon German reunification on 3 October 1990. The ...

followed the Polish example, starting demonstrations for freedom that achieved the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

peacefully. The Soviet Union then dissolved alongside

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. While Europe is reshaped, Poland remains stable and peaceful. Yet a huge variety of political parties unfolds and Poland is on the brink of becoming as ungovernable as the late

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. Wałęsa is subsequently elected as the first president of the new Polish democracy; but, this is followed by feelings of resentment among the Polish people who start to think that Wałęsa is becoming privileged. Consequently, the Polish people start to seek out ways to diminish Wałęsa's significance, until they finally accomplish their goal through uncovering actions from a past period.

Background

In April 2011, Wajda said to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that he intended to make a film to "shine new light on Lech Wałęsa", while author Janusz Głowacki said the film "is not just going to be romanticism. There will be irony, too. Don't worry." Wajda also declared at a press conference that the

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

and former president of Poland had condoned the project. Wajda stated that he considered the film the most difficult professional challenge of his filmmaking career thus far. However, he showed a realisation of the

categorical imperative The categorical imperative () is the central philosophical concept in the deontological Kantian ethics, moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 ''Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'', it is a way of evaluating motivati ...

and quoted the famous slogan of Wałęsa, a personal friend: "''Nie chcę, ale muszę''" ("I don’t want to, but I have to").

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model who began her career as a fashion model before working in Italian, American, and French films. She has an eclectic filmography in a range of genres and langua ...

was considered for the role of

Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for h ...

, but

Maria Rosaria Omaggio Maria Rosaria Omaggio (; 11 January 1954 – 30 June 2024) was an Italian actress and writer. Early life and career Born in Rome, Maria Rosaria Omaggio debuted in 1973 in the Italian show ''Canzonissima''. In 1976 she made her film debut wit ...

was finally selected.

Cast

* Robert Więckiewicz as

Agnieszka Grochowska Agnieszka Grochowska (, born 31 December 1979) is a Polish film and theatre actress. She is a two-time recipient of Polish Film Awards having won the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress in 2013 and the Polish Academy Award for Best Supportin ...

Danuta Wałęsa Mirosława Danuta Wałęsa (; ; born 25 February 1949) is the wife of former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa. In 1983 she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on behalf of her husband,R. W. APPLE JR., "AWARD IS ACCEPTED BY DANUTA WALESA" ...

* Zbigniew Zamachowski as Nawiślak *

* Cezary Kosiński as Majchrzak * Mirosław Baka as Klemens Gniech *Iwona Bielska as Ilona, Wałęsa's neighbour *

Maciej Stuhr Maciej Jerzy Stuhr (born 23 June 1975) is a Polish actor, comedian and occasional film director. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Polish Academy Award for Best Actor. Life and career In 1999, he majored in psychology from the Jagiellonian U ...

as Priest * Małgorzata Zajączkowska as Shop assistant *Marcin Hycnar as KOR member Rysiek * Dorota Wellman as Henryka Krzywonos * Adam Woronowicz as Tadeusz Fiszbach *Marcin Perchuć as Instruktor *Ewa Kuryło as

Anna Walentynowicz Anna Walentynowicz (; ; 15 August 1929 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish trade union, trade unionist and co-founder of Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity, the first recognised independent trade union in the Eastern Bloc. Her firing from he ...

*Arkadiusz Detmer as Malinowski *

Mateusz Kościukiewicz Mateusz Kościukiewicz (; born 1 May 1986 in Nowy Tomyśl) is a Polish film actor. Early life and career He grew up in Nowy Tomyśl, where he attended the General and Post-Secondary Schools. He studied at the Kraków State Higher Theater School ...

as Krzysiek *Piotr Probosz as Mijak *Jerzy Nasierowski as Mijak's grandpa *Ewa Kolasińska as

Shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

worker * Michal Czernecki *Remigiusz Jankowski as Shipyard worker *Wojciech Kalarus as Chairman *Maciej Marczewski as KOR member *Maciej Konopiński as SB agent *Marcel Głogowski as Bogdan Wałęsa (aged 8–10) *Wiktor Malinowski as Jarosław Wałęsa (aged 3–5) *Kamil Jaworski as Przemysław Wałęsa (aged 5–7) *Jakub Świderski as Ludwik Prądzyński *Bogusław Kudłek as Bogdan Borusewicz *Michał Meyer as Jerzy Borowczak *Grzegorz Małecki as UB agent *Ewa Konstancja Bułhak as Customs official *Damian Jagusz as soldier

Production

Wajda announced his intention to blend real contemporary news material with the fictional content of the film to "give testimony to the truth". The contemporary footage was adapted by superimposing the face of Robert Więckiewicz on Wałęsa's real face. The re-enacted scenes were shot "on location in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, including in the historic shipyard and its surroundings, as well as in Warsaw". As Wajda told the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', the ''raison d'être'' of his work was not to entertain the Western world, but to disclose the historic truth for a Polish audience. Głowacki assured journalists that his script was not meant to be an

apotheosis Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The origina ...

, but instead showed Wałęsa "as a man of flesh and blood, a leader of great strength but also someone who has his weaknesses". The screenwriter was significantly affected upon discovering that Wajda sought to pursue the same approach and consequently "thought it would be an interesting project". In August 2012, a company known to financial experts as "Amber Gold" was considered as an investor for this film; but, when the company was investigated, it withdrew from the production process.

Release

The film was on the program of the 2014 edition of

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

's EU Film Festival, shown in the cities of

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen (, ) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the ...

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. Alongside films such as the Spanish feature '' The Pelayos'', the film was one of seven films that were shown in all three cities.

References

External links

*
Akson Studio photo gallery from the film set of ''Walesa: Man of Hope''''Culture.pl'' website article: "International Reactions to Wajda's Wałęsa"
{{Authority control 2013 films 2013 biographical drama films 2010s political drama films Polish biographical drama films 2010s Polish-language films Films directed by Andrzej Wajda Films set in the 20th century Films set in the 21st century Cultural depictions of Lech Wałęsa Films set in Gdańsk Films set in Poland Films about Nobel laureates Polish political drama films Films scored by Paweł Mykietyn Akson Studio films Films produced by Michał Kwieciński