Radosław Piwowarski: My students don't know any of my films

PAP Life: Why did you make this film?

Radosław Piwowarski: For two reasons. Firstly, 40 years ago I came across a thin book called "Szara gęś". It so happened that at that time I had finished the film "Kochankowie mojej mamy" and was looking for a new role for Krystyna Janda. I found the author of the book, Emilia Kunawicz, and went to her in Wrocław. She turned out to be a very nice, elderly lady. We quickly got along. Mrs. Emilia was happy that I would adapt her story for the screen, because this book is basically an autobiography. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to make this film at that time.

PAPLife: Why?

RP: The subject of forced laborers during World War II was frowned upon. It was forbidden to discuss it throughout the Polish People's Republic. Many of them came from the Kresy region, and after the war they had nowhere to return to. Besides, Germans are the enemy. God forbid, we show that there were better and worse Germans. No Polish film has ever been made about it. True, Andrzej Wajda made "A Love in Germany," about an affair between a German woman and a Polish worker, but that was a German-Belgian film.

PAP Life: And the second reason?

RP: Very personal. I come from an artistic and patriotic family, in which women played a big role. I respect them and I wanted to make a film about something that has always amazed me, that Polish women are the true heroes of our nation. I am generally very pro-women. From "Jan Serce", through "Yesterday", "Pociąg do Hollywood", "Kochankowie mojej mamy" and so on, the heroines of my films were girls and women. And for this gallery I was missing the stories of women whose youth was stolen by the war.

A few years ago I found that script for Janda and started writing it again. Ms. Kunawicz's book was just a starting point. I read memoirs, workers' diaries, scientific research. I always wrote scripts for my films, but this one turned out to be exceptionally laborious. It was supposed to be an epic film, several decades of the hero's life. I had never made historical or political films. I was interested in women, friendship, music. But now I understood that I had something extraordinary, something worth showing on screen.

PAP Life: You made your last cinema film, "The Dark Side of Venus", 27 years ago. Then, in 2003, you made a television film with Danuta Szaflarska, "The Queen of Clouds". Weren't you afraid to get back on the set after so many years?

RP: It's true that I haven't made feature films for twenty-something years, but I've been working all the time. I've been making series: "Złotopolscy", "Na dobre i złe", I teach at the Warsaw Film School. I didn't feel burnt out. But it gave me an interesting reflection.

PAP Life: What kind?

RP: My whole life I was the youngest everywhere: the youngest who passed film school, the youngest who was in Andrzej Wajda's "X" Team... And now, imagine that I, this eternal boy, enter the set of the film "The Polish Lady" and it turns out that I am the oldest. Older than those grandfathers who are hired to guard the set or parking spaces. I saw in the eyes of the crew a kind of anxiety and curiosity about what this gray-haired guy can do.

And here I was helped by Arek Tomiak, the cameraman, who at the beginning said: "You are lucky to work with Piwowarski, you will remember this for the rest of your lives". And Arek was extremely valued in the film community and indeed after two days I felt that the crew believed that we would make this film.

Especially since I swore the loudest, ran the fastest and kept urging them on: "Hurry up, why are you taking so long?" Of course I was aware of this unusual situation - many of my colleagues, and younger ones at that, are already in Powązki, so I was humble towards fate. The most important thing is to make a good scene every day, to photograph the magic, to enjoy the filming itself.

On the other hand, fate is cruel. Right after filming "The Lady from Polish", Arek Tomiak died in a car accident. Can we talk about Arek for a moment?

Radosław Piwowarski remembers Arek Tomiak

PAP Life: We can. We rarely talk about operators, and Tomiak was a very good specialist.

RP: That's an understatement. He was a true artist. A professional every minute. He was a legend of Polish cinema. And at the same time a wonderful, noble, brave and caring man. The next crews called him "Dad". Although he didn't flatter anyone at all, on the contrary - he was very sharp and demanding. We met twenty-something years ago on the series "Stacyjka". At that time he was taking his first steps in the profession, I was already a fairly well-known director.

When "The Lady from Polish" was coming up, I thought I had to get back to Arek. We met and I said: "The subject is gloomy, but make a film like in the old days. Poetic, colourful". And Arek did it. His photos are magical. Arek himself was pleased and happy. In June last year, at the studio on Chełmska, he told me he was going to Koszalin for a few days. I asked him: "Call me when you get there". And in the night I got a call that Arek had died. It was his last film.

PAP Life: You managed to gather a fantastic crew for this film. Waldemar Pokromski did the make-up (including "Katyń", "Schindler's List", "The Fall", "Perfume", "The Zone of Silence"), Wojciech Żogała designed the set (including "The Art of Loving. The Story of Michalina Wisłocka", "Gods"). But you gave the main roles to debutants. Weren't you afraid of the risk? Because a well-known name attracts viewers.

RP: Cinema people rule, and they want to have a famous name on the poster. It would be best if it was a celebrity who dances with the stars or something like that. But I always took debutants for my films - because how can young people be played by old people? Here I also had problems with producers because of that, everyone told me: "We have to have a famous actor". In "The Polish Lady" there was another problem, that the main actress had to speak and play half the film in German. We found 23 candidates in the whole of Poland. After the first fittings we were left with six.

I brought in German actors for test shots. In the finals I had three great candidates. I chose Sylwia Skrzypczak-Piękoś. Intuition and God's grace did not disappoint. In addition, just like the film heroine, Sylwia works as a teacher, walks like a teacher, gesticulates like a teacher. And as a "package" she brought her real son to the film, who played her child. And the main male role - Vitalik Havryla, a student at the Theatre Academy in Krakow. Already hailed as a star in Krakow. Great.

Radosław Piwowarski on the choice of actors for his films

PAP Life: You have a good eye for actors. Your films have featured debuts by, among others, Joanna Pacuła, Katarzyna Figura, Anna Przybylska, Jolanta Fraszyńska, Małgorzata Socha, Krystyna Feldman.

RP: It's hard to explain why this one and not another. It's some kind of inspiration, intuition, the finger of God. That's what happened with Marysia Seweryn, to whom, against all odds, I gave the main role in the film "Sequence of feelings", or with Kasia Figura, who had very beautiful competitors in "Train to Hollywood".

Or Ania Przybylska, a teenager from Oksywie in Gdynia, who didn't show anything special in her test photos, but I couldn't sleep after them. And now it happened with Sylwia. I'm happy that I managed to find such a person, unknown to anyone. She really plays like Meryl Streep.

I would like as many people as possible to see it. I'm just afraid that the film won't be on screens for long. After all, almost no one goes to the cinema these days. I feel terribly sorry for young filmmakers. It's so hard to get money now, and films are very expensive. People mortgage their apartments to shoot 15 minutes.

PAP Life: Was it easier to make films back then?

RP: You could say that in the Polish People's Republic we had almost luxurious conditions for making films. I am the last generation that caught up with the golden age of cinema, when in Europe films were entertainment for the intelligentsia. Every kid in high school knew who Bergman, Fellini or Antonioni was. Unfortunately, the Internet took over cinema. And now there are eight, twelve people in the audience at good Oscar-winning films. It's terrible.

PAP Life: You teach directing at the Warsaw Film School. What do you tell young people who dream of making films?

RP: What I tell them and what they know about films are separate topics. They don't care what happened yesterday. Do you know that my students don't know any of my films? After two or three lectures, someone will feel ashamed, watch something, come and say: "Cool film, cool!", even pat me on the back. Something unbelievable. I'm also on the committee for entrance exams and when the question is asked: "Do you know any Polish directors?", there's always dead silence. Sometimes someone will say Roman Polański. And there are four directors on the committee. But let's not complain. Youth is beautiful.

PAP Life: Do you have an idea for another film?

RP: Yes. During the pandemic, I wrote a novel called "Dr. Alzheimer's Sex Lessons." Everyone who has read it says it should be made into a movie. It's the story of the last, immortal love. It could be a beautiful movie. But where do you get the money?

Interviewed by Iza Komendołowicz

Radosław Piwowarski - director and screenwriter. He is 77 years old. In 1971 he graduated from directing at the National Film School in Łódź. He was a member of the "X" Film Group, led by Andrzej Wajda, then in the "Rondo" Group led by Wojciech Has. He made his big screen debut with the film "Yesterday" (1984). His portfolio includes such well-known films as "Kochankowie mojej mamy", "Pociąg do Hollywood", "Marcowe orzechy", "Kolejność miłości" (awarded the Golden Lions at the Gdynia Festival) and "Autoportret z kochaną". He has directed many television series, including "Jan Serce", "Złotopolscy", "Na dobre i na złe". On May 9, his latest film, "Pani od polskiego" (The Lady from the Polish), was released in cinemas.