The gestures made by Wolny – putting socks on the runaway woman, washing her feet, medicinal cupping – could be considered an illustration of the parable of the Good Samaritan, if not for the fact that from the very beginning they hide a clear subtext. Holland exposes the woman’s carnality and emphasises the erotic character of the protagonist’s actions. For Leon, an insecure ‘confirmed bachelor’ who obsessively masturbates and has problems with the opposite sex, the relationship with the Jewish woman becomes comfortable in a way, because it gives him a sense of control over the woman.
The protagonist willingly puts on the mask of a saviour – which Holland ironically emphasises in one of the scenes, stylising the man’s image into a representation of an angel – but in fact abuses his power to fulfil his own needs and desires. As the man risks his own life by hiding a Jewish woman who is completely dependent on him, he expects Róża to be grateful and obedient to him.
Angry Harvest is a complex study of conformity, hypocrisy and self-deception. In order to assert his dominant position and subjugate the other, the protagonist seeks various justifications for himself, including those of a religious nature. Leon, a practicing Catholic and would-be priest, for example, believes that the persecution of Jews is a kind of divine punishment and tries hard to convert Róża. The hero’s cowardice and hypocrisy are revealed not only in relation to the woman he meets but also in other areas. Although Wolny declares his contempt for the behaviour of blackmailers, he starts buying up Jewish property for next to nothing. Ready for cruel deeds and filled with a sense of guilt, tender and perverse at the same time, Leon is a character who is as repulsive as he is weak. Holland does not try to demonise him but concentrates precisely on the ‘banality of evil’ that reveals itself in the main character.
