Given up as lost in the chaos of the Second World War, Moc­ny czlowiek has been rediscovered in the Cinémathèque Royale of Brussels, and thanks to the efforts of Filmoteka Narodowa (the Polish national archive) has now been restored. In a pre-war programme, the production firm of Gloria wrote, “Mocny czlowiek is in the avant-garde of Polish cinema pro­duction. It is a film of great breadth in the American manner. In approaching the famous novel by Przybyszewski our object has been to make our film a true work of art. For a start we have invited to collaborate with us Henryk Szaro, a highly experienced director (…). The technical aspect has been undertaken by the cameraman of Quo Vadis, Giovanni Vitrotti, especially brought back from abroad. The American style is particularly notable in the choice of the actors (…). We have spared no effort or money to ensure that our film can be numbered among the best of Polish cinematography”. In the pre-war period Moc­ny czlowiek excited the interest not only of the Polish public but also of distributors in many countries of Europe. “The first film destined for export, to be exhibited and seen by foreigners, without fear, without embarrassment, is precisely Mocny czlowiek“, we read in “Slowo” (1929, no. 250). Henryk Bielec­ki, “the strong man”, through his “perfect crimes” seeks to take possession of the heritages and the successes of others. First he kills his friend, the writer Jerzy Górsky, to proclaim himself the author of his works, and thus win fame and money. He does not even hesitate to kill a woman, Lucja, who is much attached to him, only because she knows too much about him and constitutes an obstacle to his relations with other women. To gain an inheritance he stages the death of his aunt. And he is the cause of the fire in which the pictures of his painter friend are burned. Despite this, he cannot be defined as a common crim­inal, primitive and ruthless. Throughout his life he has cherished the dream of meeting the ideal woman. When finally he finds her and succeeds in winning her love, he becomes conscious of his own moral degradation and realises that by the side of this woman he could perhaps change and become a truly strong man. However, the weight of his faults is too great.

Lorenzo Pompeo