Mundial. The Highest Stakes.
(Mundial. Gra o wszystko.)
The "España '82" World Cup was the last big success of the Polish national soccer team. Viewers all over the country, glued to their TV sets, marveled at the goals scored by Boniek and Smolarek, the extraordinary agility of Lato, Kupcewicz and Buncol, the spectacular goalkeeper parades of Młynarczyk. For a brief moment, Poland forgot the bleak reality of Martial Law: censorship, soldiers on the streets, prisons overflowing with members of the political opposition. The national team's performance was so successful that it was nicknamed "the best TV series of Martial Law Poland".
Mundial. The highest stakes tells the fascinating, untold story of sport and politics in the aberrant period of Martial Law (1980s Poland). The World Cup was watched with equal devotion by imprisoned activists of the delegalized “Solidarity” and censors, whose job was to diligently cut any signs of Polish political opposition from the live TV broadcast (mostly banners with the word “Solidarity” displayed in the bleachers of the stadium). The film shows the football players, who, apart from having to deal with the pressure of playing in the World Cup, had to live up to the expectations of their fans and skillfully manage the political regime.
This documentary is a combination of unique archive materials from Polish Television, Polish Film Chronicles, FIFA, 3D-animated photos from the Białołęka internment camp, drawings and interviews with the football players, sports commentators and the interned members of political opposition.
Director: Bielawski, Michał
Screenplay: Michał Bielawski
Cinematography: Petro Aleksowski, Tomasz Suski
Music: Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz
Film Editor: Grzegorz Mazur
Principal Cast: Zbigniew Boniek, Dariusz Szpakowski, Tomasz Wołek, Antoni Piechniczek, Jan Lityński, Włodzimierz Zientarski, Grzegorz Lato, Wiktor J. Mikusiński, Pascal Rossi-Grzeskowiak, Władysław Żmuda, Jarosław Maciej Goliszewski, Stefan Majewski, Stefan Szczepłek, Wojciech Borowik
Runtime: 96 minutes
Release Year: 2012
Genre: Drama
