WALESA: MAN OF HOPE tells the story of the rise and rise of Lech Walesa, who led the Solidarity movement in the Seventies and Eighties, and helped bring about a revolution in Poland. The story is a familiar one of an iron-willed person whose commitment to the cause overrides everything - even his family. Despite being jailed on numerous occasions, and threatened with everything, including lifetime imprisonment, Walesa (Robert Wieckiewicz) remains sternly committed to his cause, and thereby helps bring about change in a rapidly disintegrating communist regime. Wieckiewicz's performance is just wondrous; he remains utterly convincing in the role, showing the weak as well as the strong sides of the character as he tries to bring up a family of six children while showing loyalty to his fellow-workers. Structurally speaking, Wajda's film follows a familiar path; we are encouraged to sympathize with Walesa, even if we doubt his methods sometimes, as someone who genuinely fought on behalf of the workers he tried to represent. For those unacquainted with the nuances of Polish history during this period, WALESA: MAN OF HOPE offers a useful lesson. Its message remains as significant today as it did three decades ago; even today, there are those - in the Soviet Union in particular - who are resisting the authorities' attempts to suppress them for similar motives. WALESA: MAN OF HOPE offers hope for them as well as for anyone pursuing the cause of freedom.
Review of Walesa: Man of Hope
