"Nevertheless, in the theatre, and in the cinema, the contemporary reality of Poland has been represented only to a minuscule degree in the last 12 years"
About this Quote
A complaint disguised as a diagnosis: Wajda isn’t just tallying a deficit of “realism,” he’s calling out a cultural evasion. The sting is in “nevertheless” and “minuscule.” “Nevertheless” implies there were excuses on offer - censorship, market pressures, institutional inertia, the fatigue of politics - and he’s brushing them aside. “Minuscule” isn’t neutral description; it’s an accusation that the arts have chosen safer metaphors, period pieces, and private psychodramas over the public mess of lived Poland.
The timeframe matters. “The last 12 years” reads like a deliberate audit of the post-1989 era, when Poland’s political transformation promised not only new freedoms but new stories. Under communism, the indirect language of allegory and historical costume could be a survival tactic and a form of resistance. After the system cracks, that old aesthetic can harden into habit: artists keep speaking in coded past tense even when the present is suddenly available. Wajda, who built his reputation confronting national trauma and political power, is warning that freedom can produce a different kind of silence - not imposed from above, but sustained by taste, funding, and the desire to look “European” rather than provincial.
His intent is also professional and strategic: a director lobbying for relevance. If theatre and cinema aren’t registering “contemporary reality,” they risk becoming heritage industries, beautifully crafted but socially inert. Wajda is arguing that Polish modernity - its winners, its dispossessions, its moral whiplash - deserves to be seen straight on, not only remembered through the comfortable fog of history.
The timeframe matters. “The last 12 years” reads like a deliberate audit of the post-1989 era, when Poland’s political transformation promised not only new freedoms but new stories. Under communism, the indirect language of allegory and historical costume could be a survival tactic and a form of resistance. After the system cracks, that old aesthetic can harden into habit: artists keep speaking in coded past tense even when the present is suddenly available. Wajda, who built his reputation confronting national trauma and political power, is warning that freedom can produce a different kind of silence - not imposed from above, but sustained by taste, funding, and the desire to look “European” rather than provincial.
His intent is also professional and strategic: a director lobbying for relevance. If theatre and cinema aren’t registering “contemporary reality,” they risk becoming heritage industries, beautifully crafted but socially inert. Wajda is arguing that Polish modernity - its winners, its dispossessions, its moral whiplash - deserves to be seen straight on, not only remembered through the comfortable fog of history.
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| Topic | Movie |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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