Leave No Traces – Zeby nie bylo sladów (2021)

Directed by: Jan P. Matuszynski | 160 minutes | drama | Actors: Tomasz Ziekek, Sandra Korzeniak, Jacek Braciak, Agnieszka Grochowska, Robert Wieckiewicz, Tomasz Kot, Aleksandra Konieczna, Adam Bobik, Bartlomiej Topa, Andrzej Chyra, Michal Zurawski, Jerzy Bonczak, Mikolaj Grabawlak, Joani,z Chockawlakk Andrzej Nejman, Rafal Mackowiak

Poland, 1983, martial law. Fearing the growing democratic opposition, a military caste has seized power in the communist country. Graduation student Grzegorz Przemyk, only son of poet and nationally renowned activist Barbara Sadowska, is arrested in broad daylight for a minor offense and later severely beaten in front of his good friend Jurek Popiel at a police station. A few days later, Grzegorz succumbs to the injuries sustained. His mother Sadowska is suing the Polish government and protests against the regime flare up again. Unceremoniously, the incumbent rulers bombard the only witness, Jurek, into public enemy number one. The two-and-a-half hour ‘Leave No Traces’ is an exhaustive and sometimes nail-biting account of a black page in Polish history.

How does a state sweep an ‘undesirable’ incident under the rug as quickly and effectively as possible? ‘Leave No Traces’ pretty much presents the manual. The Polish government is doing everything it can to discredit Yurek and anyone else it considers suspicious in this case so that they refuse to testify in the Przemyk case. Like a well-oiled machine, the state eavesdrops on apartments, blackmails those involved in alleged affairs, deploys ‘fake news’ and, during the judicial investigation, even accuses the paramedics, who tried to treat Grzegorz, of his certain death. In addition to personally destroying Yurek and Barbara, those in power also erode social cohesion within a society. Every citizen can help everyone else, because almost every citizen is blackmailable or would like to get a white foot with a superior. Moreover, the legal system in Poland does not primarily protect the victim but the people on the plush. Can’t get much sadder than that.

The sets for ‘Leave No Traces’ are exuberant in their detail yet true. In addition, the images have a coarse-grained, authentic look. You really think you are in 1983. Many of the most exciting scenes take place in the backrooms of the bad guys, where the Polish secret service tries to control or at least smooth things over. Yet those in power are also trapped in the rotten political system. The cutthroat competition between the responsible government departments means that people with slightly dissenting views on the Przemyk case are quickly dismissed. A vicious circle of corruption remains.

Cleverly, this large production by European standards is somewhere between a socially engaged historical drama and a police (state) film. But it also stuns the viewer with the warning that the long arm of the law is excellent for consolidating the power of the few. Does the film leave enough traces in the memory with this fact? Strangely enough not. ‘Leave No Traces’ is too neat a statement of great injustice for this, and it offers little deeper insight into the case that overshadows the meticulous account from start to finish: the murder of Grzegorz.