Disaster films were erstwhile large-scale productions. Today, as cinematographic technologies progress, even a maker with an average budget can afford them. This was the case with the miniseries Hewelius, which just appeared on 1 of the popular streaming platforms.
However, it is not any catastrophic superproduction shot with momentum and designed to take breath distant with peculiar effects. It is alternatively a reminder of a tragedy, rather powerfully embedded in facts. This tragedy has already happened more than 3 decades ago, on 14 January 1993, on the waves of the Baltic, somewhere east of the coast of Rügen. It is, of course, (although any have already forgotten about this event) about the disaster of the “Jan Hewelius” ferry belonging to the Szczecin Euroafrica company separated in the early 1990s from the Polish Oceanic Lines. This is the biggest tragedy of this kind in the past of the newest Polish shipping. The event, which marked not only the manufacture and the West Pomeranian region, has cast a shadow on many phenomena that have so far proved the disastrous quality of our country.
Before we go to the “non-film” threads, however, it is worth a fewer words of appreciation for the creators themselves, counting 5 episodes of miniseries. Its creators are people associated with families in the movie industry. The manager of Hewelius is the boy of Gustav Holoubek, Jan HoloubekAnd the writer's boy Philip Bajon, Kasper Bajon. Both with a thorough field education, not just household traditions. The screenplay in the 1993 disaster experts' opinion is based on an in-depth analysis of the papers collected in the case, witness accounts and thorough querence.
Scenes for the series were shot in various places, primarily on the Polish Coast (mainly Świnoujście and Szczecin). Admittedly, any places in the early 1990s were faithfully restored. The only thing can be the decision to shoot the phase of crossing the Polish-German border in Chalupki in Lower Silesia, which play the function of the Ahlbeck-Świnoujście crossing, although they do not match it completely. However, we must remember that on our western border there are fewer more places where any elements of the erstwhile border infrastructure remain. The sea scenes from the disaster itself were shot in Brussels. This is where the largest underwater movie studio in Europe is located.
Acting doesn't actually leave much to be desired. On the screen appear characters very well known from different eras of Polish cinema, including stars of a kind Jan Englert or Boris Szyc. tiny ones, however, have a field to show, due to the fact that actually the image treats a group of people without bringing out a single character. However, if we were to effort to separate someone's acting game, we could emphasize the well played, anxious and tearful function of the 3rd on-board officer "John Hewelius", Witold Skirmunttawhere he occurred Konrad Eleryk. By the way: Skirmunt is simply a fictional character, and the real III officer surviving from the crash was named Janusz Lewandowski. In the series it was accepted that authentic characters (e.g. captain Andrzej Ułasiewicz) intertwin with fictional, which does not capture the value of the “documentary” full picture.
However, let us decision on to a general message that is not hard to find in the show. It is due to the course of the disaster (to this day unexplained to the end) and to the proceedings in this case. First, the Marine Chamber in Szczecin found that the ferry captain was liable for the crash. The easiest solution: Andrzej Ułasiewicz remained consciously on the Captain's Bridge until the end, so he could no longer respond to anyone's allegations. His worship was defended to any point by his family, primarily the widow and daughter whom he orphaned (this is 1 of the main themes of the series Holoubka). He himself had no way to defend himself, and the interests of Euroafrica were involved, convincing that designation of the shipowner's responsibility could lead to his bankruptcy and bankruptcy, that is, the failure of thousands of jobs. The Szczecin ruling was repealed at the end of 1994 and the case went to the proceeding of the Maritime Chamber in Gdynia. She decided to issue a saloon judgement – she said that both the shipowner and crew errors were liable for the disaster. However, the Board of Appeal returned to the erstwhile version of the charge of Ułasiewicz. In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the proceedings were carried out in a defective manner – no account was taken of all the applicable evidence, and the ruling composition in the chambers of the sea was politically dependent on the departments establishing it.
What? Nothing. No 1 has conducted a fair investigation so far, no 1 has returned to the case years ago. but for a fewer people who did it as independent enthusiasts or seekers of uncomfortable truth. The most celebrated of them remains Captain Marek Błuśwho analyzed all the papers available, and even made it to the data that no 1 in the authoritative investigation reached. Importantly, Błuś speaks rather flatteringly about the miniseries Holoubka.
Let's go back to that movie picture. It carries a very concrete message, full of completely legitimate concern. What can consequence from this anxiety? First of all, we cannot have greater assurance in any instance in utmost situations. The institutions – the company in which we work ourselves or our closest; the school to which our children go; the military and the safety authorities that run their own game; the justice strategy that does not actually exist; finally, the closest friends and friends who will turn distant from us at the most hard moment. So we are left to ourselves, like the series Witold Skirmunt wandering the empty halls and halls of the German hospital. But with Skirmunt, a mysterious doctor talks to his dreams. No 1 is waiting for us – the victims, the tragic ones, we are alone with this burden. In this sense, Jan Holoubek's show is simply a manifestation of a deficiency of assurance in our institutional, social, or even social environment.
If we have a somewhat universal pronunciation of Hewelius to Polish realities, the most political and systemic ones, we will receive a alternatively faithfully reflecting the nature of our statehood panorama. We have our own mysterious military interests here. There are service representatives like the inept completely sewer in the form of serial major Ferenc. We have straight interfered with the behaviour of members of the government – the deputy minister who tries to manually control the full process, and successfully. The disaster of "Jan Hewelius" took place during the balcerowiczian transformation, that is, the demolition of Poland, including its once-good and world-important maritime industry. The degrengolada of this period is portrayed in the series truly rather well, though many threads and behaviour models stay as current as they are today, after more than 3 decades.
Hewelius is the image of Poland – filled with false, incompetence, bad will, machlojka, cons and combination. Let us be honest – not only Poland, but the full erstwhile east block. In 1994 a akin tragedy occurred in the Baltic, which brought much more victims – the ferry “Estonia” sank. Apart from the uncontested fact that Holoubek and Bajon managed to make an excellent synthesis of disaster, psychological, thriller and court drama, it is worth looking at Hewelius as a challenge: a reminder that until we explain accurately the events of the founding period of the 3rd Republic of Poland, until the pathology of the 3rd Republic of Poland will constantly accompany us, and smaller or larger human tragedies generated by the strategy will recur.
Mateusz Piskorski
Hewelius, dir.Jan Holoubek, Netflix Poland 2025, est. 1-5.
Photo Netflix
