Circumstances of creation
After censorship was abolished in 1990, it was possible to address topics that were forbidden earlier and to rebut the propaganda version of reality. The pacification of the Wujek coal mine in Katowice, during which 9 miners died and 21 were injured, was a problematic event that the communist authorities didn’t comment on. Kutz – a devoted portrayer of Silesian history - was shocked by this tragedy. He wanted to make a film about the pacification back in the 80s, but it was impossible to create such a film under communist rule.
The problems with realizing Śmierć jak kromka chleba ("Death Like a Slice of Bread”) didn’t, however, end when the political system changed. The circumstances in which the film was created were linked to the political and mental changes of the 90s. In 1989, thanks to a social initiative, a special committee was founded, which began to accumulate funds for the upcoming film. Sadly the required sum couldn’t be raised and enthusiasm waned from year to year. A conflict appeared between Kutz and the activists of the Solidarność union , who were becoming less and less eager to help. Eventually the shooting of the film began as late as in 1993. It was filmed at the Wujek mine with the collaboration of the tragedy’s witnesses. Even though Kutz’s work premièred only 13 years after the unfortunate events, audiences weren’t especially interested in it.
Historical background
The film is a quite precise reconstruction of the events that occurred at the Wujek mine. The action takes place over 4 days – from the introduction of martial law to the massacre of the miners (from the 13th to the 16th of December 1981). The strike began after the leader of the mine’s branch of "Solidarność, Jan Ludwiczak, was brutally abducted from his apartment. Following this incident the miners unanimously decided that they would not work unless their demands were be met: 1) The ending of martial law, 2) The release of Ludwiczak, 3) The abiding of the Jastrzębie Zdrój agreements. The men barricaded themselves in the mine, where, on the 16th of December, they clashed with the police, which ended tragically when the special task force ZOMO chose to open fire.
Analysis
In 1981 Feliks Netz dedicated to Kutz the poem "Dnia siódmego” (“On the Seventh Day”), which refers to the events that occurred at the mine. One of the stanzas reads like this:
you were there
on the rutted snow
and before the hellish
watchman growled:
move
you lifted
death from the ground
like a slice
of bread
[quotation taken from the special supplement "30th Anniversary of the Wujek Mine”, "Rzeczpospolita"13th of December 2011]
It seems that in the aforementioned poem the director found not only the film's title but also his main poetic inspiration and the concept of how to show the tragedy. The motif of a naturally accepted death and martyrdom (death like everyday bread) was devoid of patriotic rhetoric and perfectly suited Kutz’s Silesian cinema, which focused on simple people who were ready to die for their dignity. Bread symbolizes the body of Christ but also everyday food eaten by ordinary people – the director makes use of this duality and tries to maintain a balance between the naturalistic realities of life and that which is spiritual and sublime. In one of the scenes, a priest who came to the mine (Jerzy Radziwiłowicz), has to hide in a closed room during an alarm. In the chamber he finds a table covered with slices of bread meant for the miners.
The clergyman came to the place in which the strike was occurring to hold services. He is however conscious that the real sacrifice will be made not during one of his ceremonies but during the miners’ fight: bread is the Host, and the blood, which flows from the dead bodies, is wine. Kutz shows this romantic motif (which seems to be taken from the drama "Dziady”) with the entirety of its pathos: he presents the symbol of the cross and he tries to give the dramatic events a sacral dimension amongst others by making use of Wojciech Kilar’s solemn music. Such a serious artistic convention – much different to the irony of “Zawrócony” (“Turned Around”), which is Kutz’s second film about “Solidarność” from the year 1994 –didn’t bother critics and film experts, who came to the conclusion that the director "makes heroes of simple and modest people, not symbols or organisations” [Tadeusz Lubelski, “Historia kina Polskiego” (“A History of Polish Cinema”), Katowice 2009].
The seriousness of "Śmierć…” might however not appeal to some viewers. The reception of the film was hindered by technical drawbacks such as the imperfect synchronization of speech and image. In some scenes the ostentatious sanctifying of the portrayed events overpowers the care for authenticity. The second half of the film was realized very well by the director – the battle between the miners and the police was staged with passion and energy. In the fight scene, word becomes flesh and the title comparison becomes a moving piece of reality. Despite its drawbacks “Śmierć…” remains an important account of one of the most shocking moments of the period of martial law in Poland.
Author: Robert Birkholc, December 2013
Translated by: Marek Kępa
"Śmierć jak kromka chleba" ("Death Like a Slice of Bread” ), Poland 1994. Directed by Kazimierz Kutz. Screenplay by Kazimierz Kutz. Director of photography: Wiesław Zdort. Music by Wojciech Kilar. Scenery by Bolesław Kamykowski. Cast: Janusz Gajos (Miodek), Jerzy Trela (Skarga the miner), Jerzy Radziwiłowicz (priest), Mariusz Benoit (Krasucki the miner), Roman Gancarczyk (Jurek Putek the miner), Jan Peszek (Polish Army Major), Teresa Budzisz-Krzyżanowska (doctor) and others.
Produced by: The Social Committee for the Realization of the Feature Film about the "Wujek” Mine Tragedy, Tor Film Studio, Polish Television. Colour, 116 min.