Kazimierz Kutz

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Kazimierz Kutz realized with great attention to details a pathetic fresco about those dramatic events. His film, of unquestionable artistic value, is also a tribute to the courage and determination of miners who did not hesitate to give their lives for the ideals of August Uprising. Katowice, the night of December 12-13, 1981. Military units occupy strategic points in the city. General Jaruzelski is about to announce martial law on television. A group of henchmen, breaking union security, drag the chairman of the works committee of the Solidarity trade union in the “Wujek” mine out of his apartment. The news of this quickly spreads to the miners. Initially surprised, they soon react with a spontaneous protest. On December 14th a strike breaks out in the plant. The workers demand the lifting of martial law and the release of the chairman. Negotiations with the authorities end in a fiasco. The army, ZOMO and the militia prepare to storm the mine.Read More »

Polish Silesia, the 1930’s. A coal mine is slated for shutdown. Scared of losing their jobs, the miners declare a sit-in. Young miner Jaś, a happy husband and father of two little boys, wants to go home, but overcomes his fear and stays with his fellow miners. The mine’s management tries to cheat the striking miners, promising to negotiate with the worker leaders if the workers leave the mine. The families demonstrate their solidarity outside. The man leading them is Erwin, a former Silesian insurrectionist. Silesian bands play at the mine gates, demonstrations are held. Siersza, leader of the strike, sends strike committee member Grudniok to Warsaw, to present the miners’ demands to the government. Grudniok returns with bad news. They told him in Warsaw that the mine was owned by a German, and the Polish government had no way of influencing his decision…Read More »

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A young boy is accused of attempting to murder a local priest. When the boy gets hurt in an accident, the townspeople are not willing to give him a hand.Read More »

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One has to just think of a great film featuring a war and a train would automatically come to mind. While Czech cinema gave its immortal classic, ‘Closely watched trains’ directed by the legendary director Jiri Menzel to the admirers of cinema, Polish cinema also had its fair share of films depicting war where trains have played a major role. ‘Ludzie Z Pociagu’/’People on a train’ is one brilliant example of a war film featuring innocent people whose lives depended a lot on the running of a train. In this film, director Kazimierz Kutz depicts how an act of heroism involving the seizure of a gun is responsible in allowing the viewers to get a better idea of the microcosm of Polish society. Read More »

In 1960 Kazimierz Kutz’ second film NIKT NIE WOLA / NOBODY’S CALLING, based on a Jozef Hen novel that was never published in Poland, described the fate of Poles on the Eastern Front. Kutz used the film to explore new formal solutions, collaborating closely with cinematographer Jerzy Wojcik to reveal the psychological landscape of a pair of lovers who are strongly affected by wartime events. The camera recorded the couple’s inner experiences, contrasting their muted intimacy against the surrounding scenery of a ruined town. The film did not win over critics at the time of its release. It was not until later that critics recognized Kutz’s effort to experiment with aesthetics in a manner akin to that pursued by filmmakers of the new wave. NOBODY’S CALLING came to be compared with Michelangelo Antonioni’s THE ADVENTURE, which was produced around the same time.Read More »