Polish martial law of 1981 seen from abroad

<jats:p>The implementation of martial law in 1981 is regarded as one of the most important events in Polish post-war history. Martial law is also an event that attracted significant interest from foreign artists and historians, not least because it was one of the last attempts by a communist government in Eastern Europe to assert its authority, as well as a sign that the political power of communism in this region was crumbling. This essay discusses three films on this subject, made outside Poland: <jats:italic>Moonlighting</jats:italic> (1982) and <jats:italic>Success is the Best Revenge</jats:italic> (1984) by Jerzy Skolimowski and <jats:italic>Passion</jats:italic> (1982) by Jean-Luc Godard. I treat the films as testimonies, however partial, to the ways this event was perceived outside Poland, both by Polish emigrants and foreigners. Simultaneously, I regard the films as attempts to engage in wider discourses, such as the changing role of the working class, the difference between socialism and capitalism, the role of an migr artist/intellectual in the situation of a political crisis affecting his country and even the possibility to represent political crisis from outside. I argue that martial law successfully activated these discourses, yet without providing any definite answers to the questions they posed.</jats:p>