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A happy ending for the protagonists of The Promised Land
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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When I went to the States with this film it was still possible to show a film in the cinema, or university studio cinemas, and not just on TV the way it is now. There are 3,000 universities in the States so distribution to those universities is enormous compared with Europe. Be that as it may. It all started wonderfully with a lot of enthusiasm - the making of the film, very well received by Polish audiences but, unfortunately, it ended the way I said. Yet for my three protagonists it's worth mentioning: Daniel Olbrychski, Wojtek Pszoniak and Andrzej Seweryn. They believed in those characters, they believed that they could do anything. So they went to Paris to look for new opportunities for themselves. I remember we were sitting in a café in Champs Elysées, and I was looking at them with amazement and at the way they imagined they were in the promised land, and that they'd make a fantastic career for themselves in Paris, which is what happened. Andrzej Seweryn performs in La Comédie Française, Wojciech Pszoniak performs in commercial theatre and Daniel appears in lots of French films. So the energy, so to speak, that they picked up while filming The Promised Land affected their reality, their frame of mind to the point where they began to look for a place for themselves outside of Poland and, I have to say, they found it.

Ale w tym czasie, kiedy... kiedy ja z tym filmem byłem w Stanach, to jeszcze były czasy, kiedy można było film pokazać w kinie, a nie tylko w telewizji, albo w kinach studyjnych uniwersyteckich. Tak jak to jest teraz. Co prawda uniwersytecka dystrybucja w Stanach to jest trzy tysiące uniwersytetów. Na stosunki europejskie to jest olbrzymia dystrybucja. No ale wszystko jedno. Tak że niestety, zaczęło się wspaniale, zaczęło się, że tak powiem, porywająco – realizacja tego filmu i wielki sukces – spotkanie z polską widownią, no a zakończyło się niestety tak jak opowiedziałem. No ale dla moich trzech bohaterów, bo może warto i o tym wspomnieć: Daniela Olbrychskiego, Wojtka Pszoniaka i Andrzeja Seweryna. Oni uwierzyli w te postacie, oni uwierzyli, że oni wszystko mogą. W związku z tym pojechali do Paryża szukać dla siebie jakby nowych możliwości. I ja pamiętam, że siedzieliśmy na Champs Elysees w kawiarni, ja patrzyłem na nich zdumiony, jak im się wydaje, że oni są w Ziemi Obiecanej. I że oni tu zrobią fantastyczną karierę w Paryżu i tak zresztą się stało. Andrzej Seweryn gra w Komedii Francuskiej, Wojciech Pszoniak gra w komercjalnych teatrach, a Daniel grał w wielu filmach francuskich. Tak że ta, że tak powiem, energia, którą chwycili przy okazji Ziemi Obiecanej tak dalece, że tak powiem, podziałała na ich rzeczywistość, na ich prawdziwe samopoczucie, że zaczęli szukać dla siebie miejsca poza krajem. No i muszę powiedzieć, że znaleźli je.

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) was a towering presence in Polish cinema for six decades. His films, showing the horror of the German occupation of Poland, won awards at Cannes and established his reputation as both story-teller and commentator on Poland's turbulent history. As well as his impressive career in TV and film, he also served on the national Senate from 1989-91.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: Champs Elysées, The Promised Land, Daniel Olbrychski, Wojciech Pszoniak, Andrzej Seweryn

Duration: 1 minute, 43 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008