Weekend with Wajda: Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza) – 1981

Man of Iron, the sequel to Wajda’s earlier film Man of Marble, is set in August 1980 during the historic strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard that led to the birth of the Solidarity movement. Maciek Tomczyk, son of the working-class hero of Man of Marble, becomes one of the leaders of the strike. Communist authorities send a cynical, alcoholic radio journalist named Winkel to Gdańsk. His assignment is to dig up compromising information on Tomczyk and discredit the strikers. As Winkel investigates, he interviews people close to Tomczyk, including his wife Agnieszka, who has been arrested for supporting the strike. Through their accounts and a series of flashbacks, the film reveals the family’s history and the political events of 1968, 1970, and 1976. Gradually, Winkel undergoes a moral transformation.