Wałęsa - 'Man of Hope'

Robert Więckiewicz as Lech Wałęsa in new biopic: photo - wikicommons/Artur Andrzej

Director Andrzej Wajda decided to change the title having come to the conclusion that his latest feature will be the crowning of his earlier achievements.

“It will be the final part of a triptych on the political opposition in Poland, of which Wałęsa’s activities were the crowning victory,” Wajda said in a statement for the film’s distributor ITI Cinema.

He added: “The film Wałęsa. Man of Hope is closely related, with its theme and my political commitment to the Solidarity movement, to two of my earlier films Man of Marble and Man of Iron".

Man of Marble, made in 1976, tells the story of a young female director making a film about the life of the bricklayer Mateusz Birkut, a labour leader in the Stalinist period, whereas its sequel, Man of Iron, shot several years later, depicts the birth of Solidarity and has Wałęsa appearing as himself on the screen.

Wałęsa. Man of Hope presents two decades from Wałęsa’s life. The story begins in 1970, when he was an ordinary worker, and ends with his 1989 address to the US Congress.

The film will have its gala premiere in Warsaw’s National Opera on 23 September, six days before Wałęsa’s 70th birthday, before going on general release on 4 October.

Lech Wałęsa and his wife Danuta are played by popular actors Robert Więckiewicz and Agnieszka Grocholska and the script is by the best-selling writer Janusz Głowacki. (mk/pg)

source: PAP