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Devastating review of Korczak in Le Monde

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Korczak and its reception at Cannes
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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In Korczak, since I'd seen a few films that Jarmusch had made, I saw that his camerman was Robby Miller. My French producer wanted to join me in this film so I thought it would be a good idea as it would make it possible for him to work on this film. I wanted to make this film in black-and-white rather than in colour. And I think I was right in this. Robby Miller took beautiful and vivid shots. Allan Starski unvieled all of his potential which was later put to such good use in Roman Polański's Pianist. That was his first attempt at dealing with the subject of the war and the occupation. We worked on the film with great enthusiasm and I think I had high expectations of this film. But suddenly, I received a blow that I couldn't have expected. The same people who had ambushed me in France over The Promised Land were waiting for me here. Amazingly, this happened after the film had triumphed at the Cannes Film Fesival. The film was shown outside of the competition at a special evening showing so it wasn't in the main hall of the festival. The public not only received the film with applause, but with a standing ovation. I was very happy because I though to myself that in some way this was avenging those dismantled sets, taken apart before Aleksander Ford could make his film Korczak. I though to myself, wonderful, good, good, this is how it should be.

W filmie Korczak, ponieważ oglądałem wcześniej kilka filmów, które zrobił Jarmusch, wypatrzyłem, że jego operatorem jest Roby Miller. A ponieważ do filmu Korczak chciała się przyłączyć moja francuska producentka, pomyślałem sobie, że to jest dobry pomysł, bo to umożliwiało, żeby on robił ten film. Chciałem zrobić film czarno-biały z całą świadomością, bo uważałem, że ta wojna, ta okupacja będzie lepsza, lepiej się skomunikuje z widzem, jeżeli zrobię film czarno-biały niż gdyby to był film kolorowy. I myślę, że tu miałem rację. Bardzo wyraziste i piękne zdjęcia zrobił Roby Miller.

Allan Starski rozwinął wszystkie swoje możliwości, które tak potem pięknie wykorzystał w filmie Pianista Romana Polańskiego. No to było jego pierwsze zmierzenie się z tematem wojennym i okupacyjnym i pracowaliśmy nad tym filmem z wielkim entuzjazmem. I myślę, że wiele się po tym filmie spodziewałem. Nagle spotkał mnie cios, którego w ogóle nie mogłem podejrzewać. Ci sami, którzy zaczaili się kiedyś na mnie we Francji, żeby utłuc mój film Ziemia Obiecana, wyczekali mnie i tutaj. Ale to było zdumiewające, że to nastąpiło po wielkim triumfie filmu Korczak na festiwalu w Cannes. Film był pokazany poza konkursem i na specjalnym, wieczornym pokazie, tak że nie gdzieś tam w głównej sali festiwalu. Publiczność nie tylko, że przyjęła ten film oklaskami, ale standing ovation. Ja byłem bardzo szczęśliwy, bo pomyślałem sobie, że to jest w jakiś sposób zemsta za te rozebrane dekoracje, które kiedyś rozebrano nim Aleksander Ford zrobił swój film Korczak. Pomyślałem sobie: pięknie, dobrze, dobrze, tak powinno być.

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: Korczak, The Pianist, The Promised Land, France, Cannes Film Festival, Jim Jarmusch, Robby Miller, Allan Starski, Roman Polański, Aleksander Ford

Duration: 2 minutes, 17 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008