Cinema
Salt of the Black Earth
Sól ziemi czarnej
Kazimierz Kutz · 1970
Synopsis
August 1920, the second Upper Silesian uprising. The old miner Basista sends his seven sons to fight to attach Silesia to Poland; the youngest, Gabriel, seventeen, obtains permission to go too, and his brothers must watch over him. Under Erwin's orders, the insurgents take the small town, losing one of the brothers. Gabriel, smitten with a German nurse glimpsed during the fighting, steals a German uniform and crosses the lines, while a Polish lieutenant comes to support them with a single cannon.
Context
The director wrote the screenplay in 1968, on returning to Silesia after twenty years away and a few years without filming; he gave it an autobiographical thread, his father having taken part in the third uprising, and consulted veterans, historians of the region and specialists in miners' music and costumes. Produced by the Wektor group, photographed by Wiesław Zdort to music by Wojciech Kilar, the film was shot in Katowice, Świętochłowice, Ruda Śląska, Bytom and Siemianowice. At Karlovy Vary, a Soviet juror accused it of nationalism.
Who it is for
About a hundred minutes, in colour; a popular, poetic ballad rather than a war narrative.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prix Złote Grono at the Łagów festival, grand prix at Grenoble, and Poland's entry for the Oscar for best foreign film in 1970.
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