Strike is definitely a movie which brings together a number of themes largely focused on the workplace and how these affected the lives of those who were participating in the Solidarity movement in the Polish shipyards of Gdansk in the early 1980’s. The film initially begins with the problems the workers have to face in their inhospitable environment at the shipyard which is full of problems and safety issues are also almost non-existent. Danger is actually being portrayed as part of the job as the bosses of the shipyard who are beholden to the Communist Party couldn’t care less if the workers lived or died, in fact the feeling of gross inhumanity from man towards other men is immediately apparent in the movie which demonstrates the heroism of some workers who are facing the daily grind.
Safety issues are obviously quite an issue here and everything moves forward around these issues which at the end of the day are extremely important. The film does focus on these issues constantly and especially in the first part we can observe this constantly.
The film obviously sympathizes with the workers and their cause as it shows them to be quite heroic as they face a daily struggle to survive but at the same time they are organizing themselves into a large protest movement. In contrast, employers are portrayed as being rather lazy and without any interest in the welfare of their subjects who have to face a constant struggle to survive. This is once again portrayed in the way certain bosses treat the workers when they come to them with complaints about the danger they are constantly facing every day and this is dismissed out of hand. One really has to sympathise with the workers in these episodes.
The union organizers are neither here or there and the film attempts to keep an open mind about these issues. Although one can obviously sense that there is some sympathy towards these bosses, this is not totally pronounced in any way and neutrality is actually the order of the day. Actually one feels that some of the union bosses are slightly more antagonistic than the actual employers in the Gdansk shipyard with their heavy handed methods which do not always work especially with some of the older workers who are faced with a considerable dilemma to change what they have been doing all their lives. Sometimes the union organizers are actually portrayed as trouble makers especially when they attempt to intervene in the strike which is actually an inherent and complete success.
Personally I found the film offers a balanced perspective on the issues involved although it does seem to lean onto the side of the workers in this respect. Certainly the plot and storyline move forward with considerable momentum and the events and happenings of the strike are actually quite well portrayed. Still there are some romanticized treatments of the union bosses who were initially on the right side of history but which eventually became corrupt like so many others who were involved in power. Strike is indeed a powerful movie which has a lot going for it although ultimately one has to read up a bit on what actually happened before coming to terms with the whole picture as the historical gaps may seem to be slightly big sometimes.
Works Cited:
Levy E: Strike film review; Retrieved from: http://www.emanuellevy.com/review/strike-8/ 2011
