Strike (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
Strike is a Polish language
film produced by a mainly German
group, released in 2006 and directed
by Volker Schlöndorff
. The film is broadly a docudrama
. It covers the formation of Solidarity
.
The action centers around work and labor organizing
in the Lenin Shipyard
in Gdańsk
, Poland
.
The film follows the life of Agnieszka Kowalska (Katharina Thalbach
) in about three segments covering first her life as a dedicated worker in communist Poland
of the early Sixties (DVD chapters 1-4), then following events leading to the Polish 1970 protests
(chapters 5-10), and finally the early Eighties including the dedication of the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970, the Gdańsk Agreement
, and Martial law in Poland
(chapters 11-15).
The character of Agnieszka is based on at least two women, the crane operator Anna Walentynowicz
and the diminutive shipyard nurse Alina Pienkowska
. Generally Agnieszka's life is based on Walentynowicz. However, it was Pienkowska who called Jacek Kuroń
in Warsaw
to announce the strike, and she is generally credited with demanding "solidarity" at the shipyard gates to continue the strike.
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
film produced by a mainly German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
group, released in 2006 and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff is a Berlin-based German filmmaker who has worked in Germany, France and the United States...
. The film is broadly a docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
. It covers the formation of Solidarity
History of Solidarity
The history of Solidarity , a Polish non-governmental trade union, begins in August 1980, at the Lenin Shipyards at its founding by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country...
.
The action centers around work and labor organizing
Union organizer
A union organizer is a specific type of trade union member or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers....
in the Lenin Shipyard
Gdansk Shipyard
Gdańsk Shipyard is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity was founded there in September 1980...
in Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
The film follows the life of Agnieszka Kowalska (Katharina Thalbach
Katharina Thalbach
Katharina Thalbach is a German actress and film director.- Life and work :Katharina Thalbach comes from a particularly artistic-oriented family. Her father Benno Besson was a director, her mother Sabine Thalbach was an actress. Her late husband Thomas Brasch was an author. Her daughter Anna and...
) in about three segments covering first her life as a dedicated worker in communist Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
of the early Sixties (DVD chapters 1-4), then following events leading to the Polish 1970 protests
Polish 1970 protests
The Polish 1970 protests were protests that occurred in northern Poland in December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase of prices of food and other everyday items...
(chapters 5-10), and finally the early Eighties including the dedication of the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970, the Gdańsk Agreement
Gdansk Agreement
The Gdańsk Agreement was an accord reached as a direct result of the strikes that took place in Gdańsk, Poland...
, and Martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
(chapters 11-15).
The character of Agnieszka is based on at least two women, the crane operator Anna Walentynowicz
Anna Walentynowicz
Anna Walentynowicz was a Polish free trade union activist. Her firing in August 1980 was the event that ignited the strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk that very quickly paralyzed the Baltic coast and a giant wave of strikes in Poland...
and the diminutive shipyard nurse Alina Pienkowska
Alina Pienkowska
Alina Pienkowska was a Polish free trade union activist and a Senator for Gdańsk...
. Generally Agnieszka's life is based on Walentynowicz. However, it was Pienkowska who called Jacek Kuroń
Jacek Kuron
Jacek Jan Kuroń was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. Kuroń was a prominent Polish social and political figure; educator and historian; an activist of the Polish Scouting Association; co-founder of the Workers' Defence Committee; twice a Minister of...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
to announce the strike, and she is generally credited with demanding "solidarity" at the shipyard gates to continue the strike.