I Will Stand Guard

Critics regarded "I Will Stand Guard" as a kind of complement to Kazimierz Kutz’s famous Silesian triptych, which includes "Salt of the Black Earth," "Pearl in the Crown," and "Beads of One Rosary." In his fourth film set in the realities of Silesia, the director moves away from balladic poetics in favor of a deeper psychological drama. The story of Janek Klimza becomes Kutz’s way of addressing the romantic myths of patriotism, toward which the creator always maintained a critical distance. An important role is also played by the character of Maja, inspired by the real-life legend of Helena Mathei—“Matejanka,” a heroine with an ambiguous biography, entangled in betrayal and mystery, whose motives remain unclear to this day. After the defeat of the September Campaign, on the night of September 23, 1939, Janek Klimza returns in uniform to his native Silesia. In Katowice, full of Nazi symbols and Hitler Youth parades, he begins organizing an anti-German resistance. He visits former friends, recruits new members to the Polish Armed Organization, and the first oath is sworn on his pistol from September 1939. At the same time, Janek becomes involved in a complicated relationship with Majka—the seductive, impulsive sister of a friend—who increasingly demands his affection. Escalating terror, the pressure to sign the Volksliste, and a wave of arrests lead to the organization’s collapse. Suspicion of betrayal falls on Majka, the only person released from custody. Torn between love and duty, Janek decides on a risky provocation that reveals the truth about her contacts with a German officer. In a dramatic finale, he kills the German but cannot bring himself to shoot the girl. The organization is rebuilt, adopting the motto: “I will stand guard,” yet the cost of this fight turns out tragic—the assistant priest is sentenced to death. Kutz’s film rests on outstanding acting performances. Iwona Świętochowska portrays Maja as a sensual and unsettling woman, strikingly different from the ascetic world of the underground movement. Krzysztof Kolberger as Janek Klimza presents a hero consumed by romantic absolutism, blind to how thin the line is that separates myth from catastrophe. "I Will Stand Guard" is one of Kutz’s most pessimistic and humorless works—a dark film full of pathos that exposes the tragic consequences of idealism confronted with ruthless reality.