Feature film by Kazimierz Kutz, from 1971. Apart from the main characters, the protagonist of the film is the Silesian little homeland. "My Silesian films can be seen as scientific ethnographic films", the director said.
Polish Silesia, in the 1930's. A coal mine is slated for shutdown. Scared of losing their jobs, the miners declare a sit-in. Young miner Jaś, a happy husband and father of two little boys, wants to go home, but overcomes his fear and stays with his fellow miners. The mine's management tries to cheat the striking miners, promising to negotiate with the worker leaders if the workers leave the mine. The families demonstrate their solidarity outside. The man leading them is Erwin, a former Silesian insurrectionist. Silesian bands play at the mine gates, demonstrations are held. Siersza, leader of the strike, sends strike committee member Grudniok to Warsaw, to present the miners' demands to the government. Grudniok returns with bad news. They told him in Warsaw that the mine was owned by a German, and the Polish government had no way of influencing his decision.
The desperate miners decide to wage a hunger strike. The management refuses to make any concessions, the police brutally disperse the demonstration in front of the mine. Exhausted by now, the miners send a message to the surface: flood the mine with us inside! The management signs a settlement. The miners' loving families are waiting for them. Jaś, extremely worn out but happy, is finally reunited with his family.
"One world is the home of Jaś and Wichta, bright, spick and span - the other world is the behemoth mine. They are connected by a path at the edge of the sun-cracked slag heap, well-trodden by the miners' daily walk to work. On the thread of this path we see Jaś returning from work in the company of his sons, and Wichta carrying the shopping. The house is the background for a tale of a miner family's happiness. Nearby is a sun-drenched meadow where the women and children enjoy the sun. In contrast to the scenes set in the summer sunshine and bright house, there are the dark depths of the mine and the growing tension of the plot - the miners' strike to defend the mine. (...)"
"Apart from the main characters, Jaś and Wichta, the hero of the film is the Silesian little homeland. The Silesian world, the special values that developed in this Polish-German borderland, work ethic, solidarity, the beauty and colour of Silesian plebeian culture. (...) The home lives in the rhythm of the breadwinner father and his work, as highlighted by the ritualization of behaviours, especially those related to leaving for work and returning, as a cyclic stepping across the border of two worlds. The interception of the miner father by the family circle is gradual: the sons waiting for the father at the mine gate, their walk home together, taking off the father's boots, the wife washing his feet, his putting on his wedding ring as a sign of final inclusion in the family's life, waiting on him at dinnertime, the evening music-making of father and sons, the bedroom."
" 'My Silesian films can be treated like scientific ethnographic films', the director said, and he was right. He experienced Silesia physically, even sensually, he learned its landscapes, colours, smells, the rough texture of the buildings and slag heaps, the coarse, reserved characters of the people, the ritual of their behaviours and gestures". (Maria Lipok-Bierwiaczonek, "Kwartalnik Filmowy" 1997)
- Perła w koronie / Pearl in the Crown. Screenplay and directed by Kazimierz Kutz, director of photography: Stanisław Loth, music by Wojciech Kilar, production design by Bolesław Kamykowski, costume design by Barbara Ptak, film editing by Irena Choryńska. Featuring: Franciszek Pieczka (Hubert Siersza), Olgierd Łukaszewicz (Jaś), Łucja Kowolik (Wichta), Jan Englert (Erwin), Jan Bogusz (Helmut), Jerzy Cnota (August Mol), Bernard Krawczyk (Franciszek Buła), Tadeusz Madeja (Ochmian), Henryk Maruszczyk (Alojz Grudniok), Marian Opania (Albert Jasnowłosy), Jerzy Siwy (Milenda), Zygmunt Biernat (Leś), Marian Dziędziel (Hubert), Leszek Kowalski (Szpila). Produced by Zespół Filmowy WEKTOR, Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych w Łodzi, 1971. Color, 3307 m, 111 min.
Awards:
- Golden Globe at the IFF in Milan, 1971;
- Golden Grape at the Lubuskie Film Summer in Łagów, 1972;
- First Prize and Best Director Award at the Panama City IFF, 1972.