|
A Strong Man (Mocny Czlowiek)(1929) Director: Henryk Szaro;While most movies are about someone admirable, there are some that are about people who can only muster up contempt from the audience. The main character of Mocny czlowiek (A Strong Man) is Henryk Bielecki, someone you probably will not like at all. If anything, you will probably find him to be quite wicked. Bielecki (Gregori Chmara) becomes determined to become a famous writer, but the means he employs in achieving his goal are far from ethical. Bielecki discourages his friend Jerzy Gorski (Artur Socha) by telling him his new work is rather poor, driving him into despair. But Bielecki is such a good friend that he even provides Gorski with the morphine so he can overdose too. With Gorski out of the way, Bielecki can now peddle his friend's book as his own. However, it doesn't take long for Bielecki's evil ways to catch up to him. This movie doesn't glorify immorality, but rather shows what awaits one that follows an avaricious path. Bielecki is a true fiend breaking several commandments of the Decalogue on his road to self-destruction. In a sense, the movie could be viewed as a morality story as it shows nothing but immorality and the destruction it causes. Henryk Szaro directed Mocny czlowiek in 1929. Mocny czlowiek, which is a silent movie, was made right around the transition period from silent films to those with sound. Unquestionably, silent films are always interesting as they portray so much communication with facial expressions and just the deep look the charter's eyes show. Despite being made so long ago, Mocny czlowiek occasionally makes good use of special effects such as when it shows multiple images overlap each other creating a montage of visual delights. Although the movie is quite old, the music on this film is very modern (it was made by Super Trio for this DVD release). I am sure not everyone is going to be thrilled by the music, but I love it. It has an industrial sound that attempts to mix a bit of old style sound with something very new. We are very fortunate to have this movie in existence today considering no copies of it in Poland survived the war. Don't delay in getting your copy of this early example of Polish cinema.
|