Film: “Operation Hyacinth” directed by Piotr Domeleski

An Iron Curtain country was no place to be gay, and pre-Glastnost Poland was a prime example. In 1985, the government instituted “Operation Hyacinth,” a program to “register” all LGBT citizens and people who were in touch with them. This would be accomplished by rounding up suspected gay men in public cruising spots and clubs. The intention was not only to blackmail these individuals but in a wider sense, squelch any anti-Communist opposition. The list eventually grew to 11,000 names.

“Operation Hyacinth” the movie (2021) tells this harrowing tale as seen through the eyes of Robert (Tomasz Zietek), a rising star in the Communist secret police. Assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy suspected gay man, Robert is allowed to go undercover in the gay community and pose as a guy on the prowl.

Given its visibility, the higher-ups demand that the case be solved as soon as possible. Meanwhile, additional murders occur with the same type of wounds, which leads Robert to believe the situation is not so cut-and-dry. Becoming increasingly obsessed with who-dun-it, he encounters Arek (Hubert Milkowski), a confident and good-looking young gay guy, and  gets deeper and deeper into the gay underground. This provides a distraction from his otherwise dreary Warsaw life.

The film superficially resembles the 1980 film “Cruising,” but in actuality, comes closer to the detective movies of the 1940s. Most tellingly, it illustrates the power of a dictatorship to censor and imprison anyone—gay or not—who might undermine its authority.

Operation Hyacinth was terminated in 1988, as it was roundly criticized by Western media. Shortly thereafter, discussions led to the creation of the first legal LGBT organization in Poland. So yes times have changed. But in a country which is turning right-wing all over again, hope doesn’t exactly spring eternal.

Directed by Piotr Domeleski, the film was a Gold Lion finalist in 2021 and won three additional awards, including best screenplay by Marcin Ciaston. On Netflix.