Man of Marble (1977) is the most important cinematic deconstruction of the socialist realist orthodoxy mandated for all artists working in any medium in the Soviet sphere from 1934 until the Thaw after Joseph Stalin's death (1953-1964). Director Andrzej Wajda’s film moves back and forth between the 1950s and the transformative 1970s as the brash and ambitious female protagonist mounts an investigation into the recent past. Generational shifts are emphasized through angular compositions, observational montage, costuming, and performance, and Wajda suggests that authentic glimpses of reality are accessible only through the process of searching.