KRAKOW DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES AT THE 52ND KRAKOW FILM FESTIVAL: "MAN AT WAR" DIRECTED BY JACEK BŁAWUT

With the film "Man at War" Jacek Bławut says goodbye to the documentary cinema. It is worth looking at this film from a wider perspective and reminding ourselves about other films from the output of this - frankly speaking - outstanding representative of the "Polish school of documentary".

 As far as the choice of the subject is concerned, "Man at War" may resemble such productions by Bławut as "Skalski's Circus" (1986) and "I was Wermacht general" (1988) Both documentaries are the portraits of the airmen serving under general Stanisław Skalski ("Skalski's Circus") and Kazmierz Leski ("I was..."). It is similar in the "Man at War" - we  follow the life of airmen, but this time imaginary ones. This "falseness" consists in the fact, that the protagonists are computer games players who steer the airplanes from the Second World War on the simulators and  fight air battles. As well as Waldemar Marszałek ("Glide to Heaven," 1985) or Adam Sandurski ("Superheavy," 1984), they look for an alternative to the "ordinary life,"  some kind of place where they can satisfy their passions and prove their strength and courage. As far as it is concerned, there is the unforgettable final scene in which, of the "airmen" - in reality a deacon and a dentist, - is lost in thought in his  surgery, and in the soundtrack we can hear the song by Glen Miller (the leader of the Orchestra of the USA Air Forces) and the sounds of gliding planes.

In the artistic output of the author of  "Abnormal" (1990) the relationship between a human being and other people is always the key one. It happens at least in the film "Horned Souls" telling the story of Mariusz Nowakowski, ex-soldier of the Foreign Legion, who returns to ordinary life and his fiancée after an accident. In "Man at War" this relationship has been replaced by the human - computer relation. The protagonists, though they would, without doubt, manage as well in the real world, realise themselves only in the virtual world, where they are real warriors with the faces of their idols, steering the legendary planes. In a sense, the film is an excellent documentary about the phenomenon of the Internet, the era of Facebook and other similar things. But Bławut goes even further. "The Second World War is still going on," - such as sentence is spoken at the beginning, and even though we are supposed to take it with a pinch of salt, in the film it turns out, that the war divisions between nations still exist.

In his last documentary, Jacek Bławut perfectly portrayed the microcosm , got the essence out of it and with a lot of sense of humour, honestly diagnosed us all.

It is worth adding, that after the screening you could talk to the author as well as to the protagonists.

Jacek Bławut summed up his work on the film in such a way:

USA, Poland, Russia, Germany , again and again. Constant travels and recording these people. The editing itself took over a year.

The director referred also to one of the most dramatic scenes in the documentary, when one of the protagonists, tears in eyes, speaks about his grandfather, who murdered the Jews during the war.

 

Steffen did not want to be filmed at home. He took his equipment to his friend, where we shot the material. When we were finished, he took off his headphones, looked at me and asked, if he could say something. I said yes, and then I heard the story about his grandfather. I think he told it to someone for the first time in his life.

Instead, the protagonists of "Man at War" revealed us a lot of details related to the game, and commented their reactions after the screening.

Everyone who appeared in the film, perceives it in a different way. Some like it, others like it less, and there are people who do not like it at all. Some even have a grudge against the way they were depicted in the film, but in fact, they have only themselves to blame.

As regards their passion for flying, they added:

Each of us would like to fly in the real world, really pilot a plane. It is why we use the simulators and spend our time playing. It is our passion. However, in the reality everything looks different.

Daniel Stopa