Comments on: Strajk http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 27 May 2012 00:43:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: derrida derider http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-190190 derrida derider Sat, 17 Mar 2007 11:23:18 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-190190 Accusing Polish shipyard workers of being hard drinkers? The horror! I have a relative by marriage who's a very hard-drinking, very Irish construction foreman. Some years ago he got assigned a bunch of recent Polish immigrants. As he said to me "the bastards not only drank me under the table the first day after work, when I got to work late the next day they'd already started on vodka for their morning tea. But I knuckled a couple of em and they behaved themselves after that". Accusing Polish shipyard workers of being hard drinkers? The horror!

I have a relative by marriage who’s a very hard-drinking, very Irish construction foreman. Some years ago he got assigned a bunch of recent Polish immigrants. As he said to me “the bastards not only drank me under the table the first day after work, when I got to work late the next day they’d already started on vodka for their morning tea. But I knuckled a couple of em and they behaved themselves after that”.

]]> By: gr http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-190004 gr Thu, 15 Mar 2007 11:20:21 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-190004 I'm German, but I wasn't aware of any big 'controversy' surrounding this film before I read this post. It's certainly not front page news in Germany. I googled a bit, but I didn't really find anything in German news coverage other than mere reporting of the fact that the person who's portrayed in the film isn't too happy with how she's portrayed. Apparently, she's angry that workers are seen drinking vodka. In any case, commentators in Germany don't seem to think this is the greatest film ever made and the German public has taken very little interest in it. I’m German, but I wasn’t aware of any big ‘controversy’ surrounding this film before I read this post. It’s certainly not front page news in Germany. I googled a bit, but I didn’t really find anything in German news coverage other than mere reporting of the fact that the person who’s portrayed in the film isn’t too happy with how she’s portrayed. Apparently, she’s angry that workers are seen drinking vodka. In any case, commentators in Germany don’t seem to think this is the greatest film ever made and the German public has taken very little interest in it.

]]> By: radek http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189917 radek Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:46:19 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189917 Alright, reading reviews in the Polish press most of the complaints are about the acting and production - i.e. people seem to think it's a mediocre film but pretty much for non-political reasons. The general feeling is also that the main character is unrealistically heroic and pastiche-like. No one really cares that much about Walentynowicz's role in all this though apparantly originally the character was much more closely based on her which she didn't like. On the other hand Wajda's very complimentary. As far as shipyard workers being hard drinkers, go figure. Alright, reading reviews in the Polish press most of the complaints are about the acting and production – i.e. people seem to think it’s a mediocre film but pretty much for non-political reasons. The general feeling is also that the main character is unrealistically heroic and pastiche-like. No one really cares that much about Walentynowicz’s role in all this though apparantly originally the character was much more closely based on her which she didn’t like.
On the other hand Wajda’s very complimentary.

As far as shipyard workers being hard drinkers, go figure.

]]> By: SamChevre http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189916 SamChevre Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:40:43 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189916 On German-Polish relationships, vaguely--one of the German faculty at my college had a bumper sticker "Pommern ist unser". I suspect it was much less inflammatory in the small-town US South than it would have been in Europe. On German-Polish relationships, vaguely—one of the German faculty at my college had a bumper sticker “Pommern ist unser”. I suspect it was much less inflammatory in the small-town US South than it would have been in Europe.

]]> By: radek http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189915 radek Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:26:56 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189915 Walentynowicz has problems, but illiteracy isn't one of them. Don't know about the movie. Novakant basically gets it right in 4. Walentynowicz has problems, but illiteracy isn’t one of them. Don’t know about the movie. Novakant basically gets it right in 4.

]]> By: novakant http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189890 novakant Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:43:12 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189890 all that said, I agree that currently the german-polish relationship is harmed by populist forces on the polish side who instrumentalize history for their own political purposes, but something similar had been going on in Germany for decades too; from experience though the younger generations are getting along just fine all that said, I agree that currently the german-polish relationship is harmed by populist forces on the polish side who instrumentalize history for their own political purposes, but something similar had been going on in Germany for decades too; from experience though the younger generations are getting along just fine

]]> By: novakant http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189889 novakant Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:34:30 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189889 <i>Relevantly, it portrays someone else</i> AFAIK it does portray her and the name of the protagonist was changed later for legal reasons. Walentynowicz' criticism seems to be based mainly on her critical attidude towards Solidarnosc and Walesa in particular, whom she regarded as a traitor. While I haven't seen the film, I can easily imagine how the quarrels and the different factions within the movement might have been conveniently ignored in a script that seems to follow an established meta-narrative. I can also understand anyone who doesn't want to be immortalised by Katharina Thalbach :) Relevantly, it portrays someone else

AFAIK it does portray her and the name of the protagonist was changed later for legal reasons.

Walentynowicz’ criticism seems to be based mainly on her critical attidude towards Solidarnosc and Walesa in particular, whom she regarded as a traitor. While I haven’t seen the film, I can easily imagine how the quarrels and the different factions within the movement might have been conveniently ignored in a script that seems to follow an established meta-narrative. I can also understand anyone who doesn’t want to be immortalised by Katharina Thalbach :)

]]> By: Aidan Kehoe http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189880 Aidan Kehoe Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:41:37 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189880 Oh, and as to the legal action, <a href="http://www.espace.ch/artikel_329965.html" rel="nofollow">this article</a> says that, following a large donation to a children's home from the production company, she won't sue. Oh, and as to the legal action, this article says that, following a large donation to a children’s home from the production company, she won’t sue.

]]> By: Aidan Kehoe http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/comment-page-1/#comment-189877 Aidan Kehoe Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:25:23 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/03/14/strajk/#comment-189877 <blockquote><i>… which portrays her as illiterate and the shipyard workers as, among other things, hard drinkers.</i></blockquote> Relevantly, it portrays <i>someone else.</i> I swear, the more I read about modern <a href="http://images.google.com/images?hl=de&q=Wprost+Steinbach+Schr%C3%B6der" rel="nofollow">German </a>-<a href="http://www.orf.at/060711-1499/?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.orf.at%2F060711-1499%2F1500txt_story.html" rel="nofollow">Polish</a> [search for staatskrise in the second link, if you read German] relations, and even Polish internal <a href="http://www.netzeitung.de/ausland/450852.html" rel="nofollow">politics,</a> the less sympathy I have for the latter country.
… which portrays her as illiterate and the shipyard workers as, among other things, hard drinkers.

Relevantly, it portrays someone else.

I swear, the more I read about modern German -Polish [search for staatskrise in the second link, if you read German] relations, and even Polish internal politics, the less sympathy I have for the latter country.

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