The real 'Operation Hyacinth' was the Polish communist police's attempt to register people of the LGBTQ+ community and people associated with them into a database.
Operation Hyacinth is the latest Polish film that was released on Netflix on October 13. It is a thriller directed by Piotr Domalewski and written by Marcin Ciaston. It is based on a real operation that was carried out by the Polish police in the 1980s. The operation had a drastic impact on the LGBTQ+ community in Poland that was forced to live in fear of being persecuted.
The premise of the film is based on this operation under the communist government in Poland but is also fictionalized to an extent. It follows one officer's murder investigation into deaths in Warsaw's gay community. He is not satisfied with his findings but he resolves to uncover the truth. Operation Hyacinth stars Tomasz Zietek, Hubert Milkowski, and Marek Kalita.
Tigger warning: Homophobia, violence.
Operation Hyacinth was the Polish communist police's attempt to register people of the LGBTQ+ community and people associated with them into a database. The operation was carried out from 1985–87 after the newly discovered HIV virus that purportedly put the gay community at a higher risk. This was what the government claimed to be concerned about in compiling the database. Additionally, they also stated they were doing it to control gang activities and prevent prostitution. But the information gathered was more often than not used to blackmail the people and used to suppress anti-communist activity.
some cultural notes for anyone watching OPERATION HYACINTH (2021) on netflix:
— anna (@heresthepencil) October 13, 2021
- the mc works in citizens' militia which was the police force in communist poland, not to be confused w/ the military (1/?)
At the beginning of the movie, Robert (Zietek) is an officer set to marry a colleague, Halinka (Adrianna Chlebicka), and gets accepted into the officers’ academy. Along with his partner, Robert is investigating the death of an affluent man named Adam Gregorczyk. At his villa, they find a sex tape with men in it. The case is then abruptly shut after a confession is made by Kamil, an acquaintance of Gregorczyk. He had earlier revealed that before this murder, another man who was also gay, was brutally stabbed as well. Soon, Kamil is also found dead.
Robert realizes that all these cases were related and the killer seemed to be targeting only gay people. But he can't do anything about it since the department shuts down the case. Robert tries to persuade his influential father, Edward (Kalita), to reopen the case, convinced that the real killer had not been caught.
Arek is a university student that Robert meets during a police raid. He initially uses Arek to gather information relevant to the case. But after the case gets shut, he decides to rely on Arek's help, especially after learning that the victims were all profiled before being murdered. Arek introduces him to the gay community in Warsaw that had gone underground at this point. As they spend more time together, Robert and Arek get involved romantically. This confuses Robert who tries to deny his feelings. To hide it, he even tries to assault his fiancée who knows this aggression is coming from something deeper.
In the end, Robert does end up with Arek. His father discovers their relationship and brings in Arek for questioning. Robert then stands up to his authoritative father for the first time in his life to protect Arek. He then also retrieves the sex tape from his father's office and discovers secrets that could solve the serial murders.
In the sex tape, Robert finds that the top Citizen’s Militia or MO officer was a part of the sex party as well. He realizes that this top officer had hired someone to clear up the mess the tape had created. His father was also actively involved in covering up the corruption. The henchman confesses to Robert before he takes his own life that he was blackmailed into carrying out the dirty work and was also a victim of Operation Hyacinth. After hearing this, Robert realizes he is in danger as well, as is Alek.
Because of Edward's influence and connection with the top officer, he tries to convince him to save his son and instead only kill Alek. Robert overhears this and tries to help Alek escape. As they try to escape to sea, another hired killer tries to drown Alek in the water. But Robert manages to take him down and makes Alek run away promising to find him again. In the end, Robert is slumped over as police sirens come to find him. He knows his fate now which is neither with Alek or Halinka nor continue as a police officer. He is sure he will be booked and put under arrest.
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