Release Date: 12 May 2014An iconic landmark of Polish cinema, Man of Marble has been restored from original materials and is presented in a new director-approved High-Definition transfer.
Andrzej Wajda’s dazzling Man of Marble is also one of the key films of the 1970s. Often described as the ‘Polish Citizen Kane’, Wajda’s epic operates as both an electrifying political saga and a compelling analysis of the nature of cinema itself.
Mateusz Birkut, a bricklayer, glorified in a marble statue as a State-promoted ‘Worker’s Hero’ is subsequently removed from all official mention in 1952. Flash forward to the early 70s where young documentary filmmaker Agnieszka obsessively pursues his story. Birkut’s rise and fall and disappearance into obscurity provides Wajda with a framework for a brave reassessment of the period.
Although suppressed by the authorities, Man of Marble became a milestone in Polish cinema and an undoubted influence in the subsequent dismantling of the totalitarian system in Poland.
This Special Edition 2-Disc DVD set is presented in a superb new director-approved HD digital transfer with restored picture and sound, and features newly filmed and exclusive interviews with director Andrzej Wajda, lead actress Krystyna Janda and 'unofficial' assistant director on Man of Marble, renowned filmmaker Agnieszka Holland - plus a booklet featuring a new essay on the film by writer Michael Brooke.
• 2-Disc Special Edition
• Presented from a new High-Definition restoration of the film, approved by the director.
• Three new and exclusive filmed interviews - with director Andrzej Wajda, lead actress Krystyna Janda and renowned filmmaker Agnieszka Holland who was 'uncredited/unofficial' assistant director on the film.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• 16-page booklet featuring a new essay by writer, editor and film historian Michael Brooke.
Jerzy Radziwiłowicz - Mateusz Birkut / Maciej Tomczyk
Krystyna Janda - Agnieszka
Tadeusz Łomnicki - Burski
Jacek Łomnicki - Young Burski
Michał Tarkowski - Witek
Piotr Cieślak - Michalak
Wiesław Wójcik - Jodła
Krystyna Zachwatowicz - Hanka Tomczyk
Directed by Andrzej Wajda
Screenplay - Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski
Cinematography - Edward Kłosiński
Music - Andrzej Korzyński
Production design - Allan Starski
Editor - Halina Prugar
Sound - Piotr Zawadzki
Assistant director (uncredited) – Agnieszka Holland
Production manager - Barbara Pec-Ślesicka
Andrzej Wajda's acclaimed film Innocent Sorcerers is available on Second Run DVD as both an individual release and as part of the Polish Cinema Classics Box Set.
His award-winning epic The Promised Land is
available as part of the Polish Cinema Classics Volume II Box Set.
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1977 Gdańsk Polish Film Festival / Winner: Special Press Award
1978 Cannes Film Festival /
Winner: FIPRESCI International Critic's Prize
1979 Brussels International Film Festival / Winner: Best Actor
1979 Belgrade Film Festival / Winner: Best Film, Best Actor
"It was the first film made in Poland that showed the system from inside out" Andrzej Wajda
"Andrzej Wajda, Poland's greatest filmmaker... A political epic, compassionate and as bitterly funny as a cartoon... it is a big, fascinating, risky film that testifies not only to Wajda's remarkable vision, but also to the vitality of contemporary Polish life" Vincent Canby, The New York Times
"One of the most important films in the history of Polish cinema" fandor.com
"A fascinating study of political opportunism, character analysis, and the filmmaking process under Communism... The effect is an honest, compassionate, and unsystematic film"
Strictly Film School
"A potent portrayal of the machinations of Soviet propaganda, and is astonishing in its candid attack on a system that, at the time, dominated Polish cultural life... its meticulous subversion of the propaganda machine, make it an incomparable document of late 20th century Poland" TheCultureTrip.com
"Regarded as one of the greatest of all Polish films... and ushered in one of the great creative periods of Polish cinema" MovieMail
"It remains Wajda's most important work" **** (4 stars) Empire