Whenever you watch a foreign film from decades ago, it does help to do quick research on the times. You can quickly figure out what a filmmaker was against with a brief history lesson. We can’t act like all films are created in a Hollywood atmosphere. I bring this up since The Dancing Hawk was made in Poland during 1977. This was a time that the country was still part of the Warsaw Pact and under communist rule. Things were changing. The year before the workers had an uprising as the government jacked up prices without increasing wages. This was a country that was getting sick of things being done by the party members. In a few years, shipyard worker Lech Walesa would lead the Solidarity movement that would eventually control the government with the Soviet Union lost its grip on the Eastern Bloc countries. The Dancing Hawk is choice rebellious cinema as it shows what sort of man ends up moving up the party ladder.
Michal Toporny (The Case of Bronek Pekosinski‘s Franciszek Trzeciak) recounts his life from an extremely humble beginning on an impoverished farm in the polish countryside in 1914. His was a difficult delivery that it seems wrecked the health of his mother. At one point, he uses an ax blade to check if she’s still breathing. His father doesn’t seem too grief stricken by her passing. Most of Michal’s youth and life is exposed to viewers through a POV camera shot. While you’d imagine he’d be doomed for the same farming life as his father, Michal latches onto the communist party’s youth program. He’s eager to move up and get to the city. We see how he is purely mercenary in this pursuit. He could care less about the workers. At one point he dumps his wife and kid in order to upgrade to a wife that would make him more attractive to other party members. This comes back to haunt him along with a lot of other events.
Director/writer Grzegorz Królikiewicz adapts Julian Kawalec’s novel in a way that doesn’t make it praise government officials. Michal is not even close to ideal depiction of a servant of the people. He’s willing to beat his pregnant wife into labor because she has soap for her bath. His temper comes back as he gains a foothold on power and needs to make others feel like his subordinates. Franciszek Trzeciak plays Michal from an older teenager to the elderly version. This is a little strange when he’s acting in the youth party classroom. But it works. Trzeciak pulls off the ages of Michal without it looking like a comedy.
The film’s most enticing star is cinematographer Zbigniew Rybczyński outrageous camera work for the mid-70s. His handheld and close up work is astounding. There’s a remarkable intimacy to the view. There’s one scene where he appears to be capturing the action of a windstorm while sitting on the back of a bull. This is the kind of movie that you best watch on the largest TV set in your house or even break out the video projector. Rybczyński during the ’80s became a popular director of music videos. He made The Art of Noise’s “Close (to the Edit),” Fat Boys’ “Sex Machine,” Simple Minds “All The Things She Said,” Pet Shop Boys’ “Opportunities” and Lou Reed’s “The Original Wrapper.” For a Polish filmmaker to become a king of MTV is a pretty unexpected career path.
The Dancing Hawk remains a potent film about what a man will do to rise up in a communist state. This is not about sharing but seizing power and favors. It’s even more fascinating when you realize it was shown at a time when there were plenty of Michal’s in communist party positions around Poland.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The 4K restoration really lets you enjoy the camera work that digs into the story of a man rising up. The Audio is Polish LPCM 1.0 mono. You’ll hear the wild sound mix. The movie is subtitled in English.
Critic Carmen Gray (16:23) gets into the life and works of Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Turns out he didn’t have much of an impact outside of Poland. He also was more of a cult filmmaker within Poland. Moviegoers felt he was a bit too difficult to follow compared to others.
Two short films by cinematographer Zbigniew Rybczyński: Soup (1974, 8:38) and Oh! I Can’t Stop! (1975, 10:10). Soup is partly animated with a feel of Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam. There’s live action imagery that’s highly colorized for animation. At one point a man opens the door in an apartment building and sees a guy drowning in the ocean. “Oh! I Can’t Stop” has a stuttering POV creep through a town with odd sound effects. It’s easy to see how the cameraman found himself directing rock videos that were introduced by Martha Quinn.
Limited edition booklet includes an essay by critic Piotr Kletowski.
Radiance Films present The Dancing Hawk: Limited Edition. Directed by Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Screenplay by Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Starring Franciszek Trzeciak, Beata Tumkiewicz, Czeslaw Przybyla, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Józef Fryzlewicz, Irena Orska, Stanislaw Jaskiewicz & Jerzy Zelnik. Running Time: 99 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: March 24, 2026.
