A Timely Refl ection of 1980s Poland
Film offers glimpse into gay life in Eastern Europe
BY STEVE ERICKSON
The availability of a
wide range of fi lms on
streaming channels is
no guarantee they will
fi nd an audience. Netfl ix might offer
an eclectic array of TV shows
and movies from around the world,
but how many Americans know
that they’re streaming a dozen
fi lms by the great bi Egyptian director
Youssef Chahine? As both
its programming and recommendations
are driven by formulaic
algorithms, a movie like the Polish
thriller “Operation Hyacinth” gets
buried under the weekly round of
serial killer docu-series, “The Great
British Bake-off” spinoffs and imitations,
and splashy celebrity profi
les. Its modest but very real virtues,
which include a glimpse into
gay life in the fi nal years of Eastern
European communism, don’t
translate into hype.
Piotr Domalewski’s fi lm looks
back at a real-life Polish police exercise
in surveilling and blackmailing
gay men (in Polish slang, the
“hyacinths” of the title) which ran
from 1985 to 1987. Robert (Tomasz
Zitek) is a young cop whose father
also serves on the force. He’s planning
to marry a fellow cop, Halinka
(Adrianna Chlebicka.) (In a telling
scene, her mother complains when
the bedsprings make noise while
they have sex at her apartment.) He
and his partner spend their time arresting
gay men as part of Operation
Hyacinth. At the same time, the police
discover a series of murders of
men, suggesting that a serial killer is
on the loose. The killer’s targets are
part of the gay scene. Robert fi nds
a suspect, who gets beaten bloody
by his partner in jail and then dies
by suicide. Robert’s superiors are all
too willing to pin the murders on
him, rather than investigating any
further, but he’s determined to keep
searching. He also comes to realize
his own attraction to men.
The look of “Operation Hyacinth”
isn’t especially innovative.
Communist Eastern Europe has
rarely been fi lmed to look inviting,
and the dark look of Piotr Sobociski,
“Operation Hyacinth” shows how LGBTQ individuals were targeted in fi nal years of Eastern European
communism.
Jr.’s cinematography is very
familiar from David Fincher fi lms
and prestige TV. In every location,
the lighting tends to look the same.
But Domalewski and Sobocinski
are talented enough that the darkness
does carry over from style
into mood. Paradoxically, the fi lm’s
grimness is enhanced by its hints
of wintry warmth. The color brown
keeps popping up in costumes and
sets, while lamps glow onscreen.
The inspiration of William Friedkin’s
“Cruising” lurks behind “Operation
Hyacinth.” Legendary for
being protested by gay men at
the time of its release, its reputation
has undergone a generational
transformation and reclamation,
with gay cinephiles under 40 tending
to see merit in it. But while
“Operation Hyacinth” won’t please
audiences angered by a downbeat
tone and images of suicide, it’s
made from an explicitly pro-gay
perspective. “Cruising” sees something
dangerous in the sexual experimentation
Al Pacino’s character
goes through, but Robert sleeps
with a man on screen and views it
as a rewarding experience.
“Operation Hyacinth” succumbs
to formula at times. The idea of
a police investigation which gets
blocked because it threatens to implicate
someone powerful is a standard
plot device. The fi lm’s glimpses
of gay socializing in ‘80s Poland,
with sex parties buried even further
underground, is tantalizing
enough to make one wish the fi lm
had shown more of it. But Marcin
Ciaston’s script is sturdy enough to
carry the fi lm along suspensefully.
“Operation Hyacinth” also draws
CREDIT
on the paranoia of many ‘70s thrillers.
The story spirals out to encircle
more and more of its characters,
with no happy ending in sight.
Robert’s job turns him into a sympathetic
observer of the LGBTQ
community, then a participant in
it, far more interested in solving
the mystery than his superiors are
all along. His partner lets the slurs
and fi sts fl y. (Like “Cruising,” “Operation
FILM
Hyacinth” portrays most
cops as homophobic scumbags.)
The ambiguous ending does not offer
any easy way for Robert to continue
exploring his sexuality.
All period pieces show something
about the time they were actually
made. Why would a Polish fi lmmaker
go back to this period? Well,
Poland has become one of the most
homophobic countries in Europe.
Five Polish provinces and dozens of
towns have proclaimed themselves to
be free of “LGBTQ ideology,” though
some have been reversed. President
Andrzej Duda based his campaign
this year on aggressive bigotry. Operation
Hyacinth itself may have ended
in 1987, but the mentality behind it
still rules Poland. The fi lm is a warning
that the country is still treading
water, in deadly seas.
OPERATION HYACINTH | Directed
by Pitor Domalewski | In Polish
with English subtitles | Netfl ix
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