After watching the long-awaited movie “Prorok” directed by Michał Kondrat, I have mixed feelings. On the 1 hand, it is undoubtedly an interesting film, with a good acting cast, and on the another hand a alternatively simplified and schematic image, which reproduces many stereotypes and does not give full fact about the state-church relation during the period of People's Poland.
The movie by Michał Kondrat shows the destiny of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński against the background of events in Poland during the reign of Władysław Gomulka – between October 1956 and December 1970 events. Only marginally shown is the prior stay of the primate at the retreat center in Komańcza, as well as his final years after the election of Karol Wojtyla as Pope. However, the movie powerfully emphasizes the hard relation between power and the Catholic Church in People's Poland, marked by political, ideological and worldview differences. In particular, the movie addresses the background of the conflict connected with the sending of the message of Polish bishops to German bishops in 1965 and the issue of the Church's celebrations of the millennium of Polish baptism in 1966.
The apparent disadvantage of the movie is one-sided, and sometimes naive depiction of the reality of PRL and the background of the conflict between power and the Church. It is simply a black and white painting, in which on the 1 hand the church is idealized at the head of the Primate Wyszynski, and on the another hand – the oppressive "communist authority" represented by the First Secretary of the KC PZPR Władysław Gomulka. This message fits perfectly into the post-1989 solidarity assessment of the past of the Polish People's Republic. alternatively of showing 2 statesmen, each defending Poland's interests in his own way, the movie depicts the incarnation of good and evil – the “angel” Wyszyński and the “devil” Gomulka. Besides, not only Gomulka (Adam Ferency), but besides Józef Cyrankiewicz (Marcin Troński) and Zenon Kliszko (Tomasz Sapryk) were portrayed in the movie in a demonic way and it must be stressed that they did very well.
However, this dichotomical image of the reality of that time is missing from historical truth. Władysław Gomulka was neither a fanatical anticlericist nor a sworn enemy of Catholicism. Although he presented the worldview of atheistic and materialistic as the vast majority of his political formation, he was aware of the function and importance of the Catholic Church in Poland. besides the Primate Stefan Wyszyński was aware of the geopolitical situation of Poland and the necessity to find any modus vivendi with power. The dispute was surely caused by ambitious considerations – both Gomulka and Wyszyński had ambitions to be leaders of the nation, but coming from completely different ideological and planet views. As he rightly pointed out – an active politician of the time and investigator of the past of the People's Poland Prof. Andrzej Werblan – it was a kind of collision of 2 large individuals, each of whom had a sense of a past mission. Both the Primate and the First Secretary were surely patriots, but they understood the good of Poland differently. Each of them had circumstantial "environmental burdens" and had to deal with its own environment.
It should be stressed that the movie “Prophecy” has shown in an exceptionally one-sided way the dispute connected with the message of Polish bishops to German bishops, in which memorable words were given: “we forgive and ask forgiveness.” The sound of these words was surely not as clear as the movie presented. In those days, the wounds associated with the war and German business were rather fresh, so it is no wonder that the bishops' message could be read as an effort to relativize Nazi crimes. Similarly, the celebration of the millennium of Poland's baptism was treated as a challenge cast by power and a circumstantial effort to fight for the government of souls in Polish society.
Abstract from the film's faults, a good actor's game deserves attention. Sławomir Grzymkowski, who became a Primate of Wyszynski, was able to give his dignity and majesty. Adam Ferency, on the another hand, perfectly grasped the distinctive way of speaking, mimicry, and gestures of Władysław Gomulka, although at times they may have appeared to be exaggerated. To sum up, if it were not for the one-sided and biased transmission of the film, as well as the schematic and stereotypical presentation of the parties to the dispute – the movie "Prophet" could be considered rather successful. It is surely not, however, a movie that will go to the past of Polish cinematography.
Michał Radzikowski
