RETURN TO Jadwiga Plucińska To the Starting LineWith its use of socialist realist aesthetics, this film looks like a longer edition of a Communist newsreel. Plucińska coordinates observational shots with a voice-over commentary to foreground the vital energy of the young that worked to support the ideological aims of the political system.
Shot at the General Karol Świerczewski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, the film opens with an edit of shots from a parade at a stadium. The camera pauses on girls performing a dance routine for the crowds. It is followed by glimpses of students playing volleyball and basketball.
At first glance, Plucińska seems to be just depicting students engaging in the promotion of sports. However, it soon becomes apparent that the film rather serves to promote the new Communist citizen than to portray the micro-reality of any particular location.
To introduce the viewer to the place, after the opening shots, Plucińska briefly cuts to a placard on the wall where we can read the name of the school. The voice-over offers further specific details regarding its operations.
The next longer sequence builds on brief snapshots from the canteen, dancing and fencing classes and outdoor training grounds, as well as dormitory rooms where female students perform their daily beauty routines.
When the camera enters an indoor swimming pool, the narrator doesn’t hesitate to mention that the facilities are available thanks to the patronage of comrades from the Soviet Union.
The same message is reinforced later when we observe female students volunteering to teach children and conduct literacy classes for the elderly. The narrator says that after hours these students read poems by Władysław Broniewski; the new Communist young devote every single minute to pro-regime activities.
Plucińska then cuts to an observation of students’ meeting with Comrade Motyka, the Head of the Main Committee for Physical Culture. To inspire his audience, Motyka screens shots from Soviet newsreels that feature scenes of skiing, sailing and rowing competitions, something that will soon become available for Polish students; that is if they pour all their effort into building the new sports culture of the country.
Comrade Motyka also presents a new medal, which will go to the most committed propagators of sport. Its name, which we learn from the voice-over, Fit for Work and Defence/Sprawny do Pracy i Obrony (SPO) ultimately links physical strength to the revolutionary discourse. Upon learning about it, ambitious young students in the audience cheer for the prospect of receiving such a trophy.
The final footage returns to the start of the film. We again see a parade opening an outdoor athletic championship, which seals the overall message of the documentary. The screen fills with cheers, clapping hands and grinning faces. Plucińska closes her exemplary propaganda short by applauding the effort of the Communist youth. She reassures the viewer that the model students from the film work in harmony with the regime to create a better future, not only for their country but also for the whole Communist bloc.
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