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Polish Migrants and Migrant Culture
on the Screen
Kris Van HeuckelomK.U.Leuven, Belgium
UK 2007
UK 1982
The Grass is Greener
Everywhere Else
Germany 1989
The Ballad of the Windscreen
Washers
Italy 1998
The Polish Bride
The Netherlands 1998
Four Weeks in June
Sweden 2004
UK 2007
Strong identification of labor migration and Polish ethnicity
”Labor migrants are (often) Poles”
“Poles are (often) labor migrants”
Polish migrant culture on the screen?
Polish labor migrants as representatives
of the uncivilized East?
(euro-orientalism)
Six films, two categories
The action takes place
1. during communism
2. after the fall of communism
First category
1. Polish main characters
2. Rare & unpleasant contacts with locals
3. Tragic elements
Second category
1. Polish & local main characters
2. “Interethnic ” love story
3. The newcomer ”helps” the locals and ”solves” their
problems
The newcomers have ”potential” and have something to offer
to the local community
Polish “impotence”
Romance
YES
Marriage
NOT (YET)
Mixed marriages(the Hollywood way)
In the ”postcommunist” films the Polish characters fulfil a
new narrative role: they solve problems instead of creating
them.
The distance between locals and newcomers becomes smaller(but weddings take place in
Hollywood only!)
The emotional lability of Polish characters has given way to
emotional stability.
Polish Migrants and Migrant Culture
on the Screen
Kris Van HeuckelomK.U.Leuven, Belgium
