On 8 March this year, the movie “White Courage” directed by Marcin Koszałka was premiered.
Due to the subject taken, the movie sparked quite a few unnecessary controversy long before entering cinemas, and the net flooded quite a few statements by people who frequently relied not even on short clippings from the announcements, which in their own image. any even went to the pointless request for a “account” of the highlanders.
Meanwhile, “White Courage” amazed everyone due to the fact that it is neither a movie nor a hostile mountaineer nor justifying them. Its kind of symbol is simply a procedure of showing opposing attitudes – collaboration and fighting the occupier – utilizing the characters of 2 brothers, who are the main characters of the film. In the scene where the Highland community is presented a proposal to renounce Polishness and to cooperate with Germany, there is simply a clear deficiency of unanimity.
With the story of betrayal, the highlander movie deals rather straight erstwhile in 1 of the scenes a German officer yells at the movie initiator Goralenvolk that it was meant to be a mass movement, and yet the support for this thought is marginal. On the another hand, the motivations of any of these highlanders, who decided to take sides of the 3rd Reich, specified as the takeover of shops abandoned by Jews, are besides shown. The only minute that could be regarded as anti-Polish with a considerable amount of bad will is the scene of the execution by Polish partisans of the collaborator, but the deposition of it in a broader context excludes the anticipation of specified explanation being considered right. The image has repeatedly made us realize that it was nevertheless the right attitude, although it was not easy to choose 1 of the brothers against collaboration and to engage in the resistance.
The movie is rather free to address the issue of historical reliability, sometimes referring to facts and sometimes showing completely fictional themes. So here we will see a mention to a journey to Tibet organized by the German organization Ahnenerbe or a thread of a highlander pin resembling its Gothic counterparts, on which the thought of Goralenvolku was based. A complete denial of the facts, however, is the formation by the Germans of a collaboration military unit. It is known that only 2 highlanders completed the training, while in the movie we see a group of respective or respective twelve of them dressed in German uniforms. It is interesting to approach the individual of Wencesław Krzeptowski, who in the movie was broken up into 2 characters – young Andrzej Zawrat and the elder, his future father-in-law Skorus Vetula. The erstwhile establishes contacts with Germany and meets with the general politician in Wawel, while the second engages himself and its surroundings in collaboration, thus bringing material benefits. A affirmative surprise is the deficiency of an almost obligatory Russian-phobic movie in the contemporary Polish cinema. At the end of the film, russian soldiers do not rob or commit any another crimes against the Highlanders, while they participate in a joint play, happily dancing with them at the mountain music.
What deserves peculiar praise in the movie is the visual side. The characters of the image as mountaineers can climb and decision along mountainous terrains, an excuse to place many landscapes in it. At each minute we watch majestic snow-covered mountains. The scenes of climbing that come out convincingly deserve peculiar attention, allowing the viewer to share the thrill with the characters. No little interesting are the introductory scenes showing highland entertainment, wedding customs, everyday life in households. On the another hand, the 3rd Reich flags placed on the streets of Krakow and the pictures showing the victims of German crimes are threatening. The full composes harmoniously, allowing the viewer to feel the atmosphere of events and places of action of the film.
Unfortunately, the image besides suffers from any problems that are typical of our cinematography of fresh years. So in the movie we will see tension scenes, from which yet nothing comes out, specified as a dynamic riding scene, which is unexpectedly broken, and the next shot shows already playing mountaineers. Unfortunately, the erotic scenes, which have been popular in Polish films of fresh years, are besides a factor. As far as the first can be justified, as it informs us of a strong emotional bond between the characters, the second is completely unnecessary, due to the fact that the viewer has already been made aware of the burning nature of the characters' relationship, so it brings absolutely nothing to the plot. Sometimes the assembly besides fails – frequently the different shots are besides short, which makes it hard to feel in any moments of the film.
"White Courage" is not an outstanding film, the granting of specified an assessment prevents these method and substantive problems. Instead, it is simply a good and worth watching. For those curious in the subject, it may be a good introduction to it, but with a distance to historical integrity. However, those who were curious in the movie due to the desire to see Poles going to the east to fight alongside Germany I mention to the excellent text by Konrad Hand entitled “Legion Durnia White” and the supplement to this article.
Marcel Gralec
photo of the press material of the movie “White Courage”
Think Poland, No. 17-18 (21-28.04.2024)
