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Rough Treatment

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Man of Marble as a 'film-surprise' at Cannes
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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Paradoxically, after much opposition, it turned out that this film could be sold. A French distributor showed the most interest in this film because he wanted to distribute it in cinemas. And so this was how the film was set free, so to speak. At the same time, the director of the festival in Cannes, Jules Jacob, had the fantastic idea of showing a film-surprise at each festival. Film-surprise meant that no one knew what film was going to be shown, nor where it came from; people just turned up and were surprised by what they were watching, a film that he somehow had managed to get from somewhere. When he found out that my film Man of Marble was already on the other side, he quickly contacted the distributor who was called Toni Molier. Toni Molier provided the film for the festival, no one knew what would happen. People came and the film was shown to their amazement, with French subtitles. This was the best thing that could have happened to me because in one moment this film... the world of film found out that this film existed, that there was this phenomenon. Even though this was a film in which we were dealing with our own issues, there was enormous interest beyond the Berlin Wall in what was happening with us. This film found distributors and a universal audience, and even though it had been shelved for so many years, it was still a prophetic phenomenon. This socialism, this communism, this system that existed in our country couldn't cope with a subject like this, and yet it was still the most progressive film that we could make at the time.

Paradoksalnie po różnych sprzeciwach udało się, że film może być sprzedany. Najbardziej był zainteresowany tym filmem francuski dystrybutor, który się jakby zainteresował, chciał mieć ten film do dystrybucji w kinach. No i tym sposobem taśma znalazła się, że tak powiem, na wolności. A w tym samym czasie szef festiwalu w Cannes Gilles Jacob wpadł na fantastyczny pomysł, że będzie pokazywał na każdym festiwalu jeden film, który się nazywa 'film-surprise'. 'Film-surprise' polegał na tym, że nikt nie wiedział co to jest za film, nie wiedział skąd, gdzie, przychodziła sala i nagle ze zdumieniem oglądała jakiś film, który on gdzieś swoimi sposobami wydostał. Jak się dowiedział, że ten film mój Człowiek z marmuru jest już po tamtej stronie, szybko się namówił z dystrybutorem, który się nazywał Toni Molier. Toni Molier dał film na festiwal, nikt nie wiedział o tym, co się stanie. Przyszła publiczność i zdumionym oczom publiczności w Cannes ukazał się film Człowiek z marmuru z podpisami francuskimi. No nic lepszego nie mogło mnie spotkać, dlatego że jakby fakt tego filmu został w jednej chwili... świat filmowy został poinformowany, że taki film istnieje, że takie zjawisko istnieje. I niezależnie od tego, że to był film w końcu, gdzie my rozprawialiśmy się z naszymi sprawami, jednak zainteresowanie za berlińskim murem po tamtej stronie było tym, co się dzieje u nas ogromne. I ten film momentalnie znalazł dla siebie wielu dystrybutorów, no i jakby widzów też na świecie. I tak, że tak powiem, odleżawszy się tyle lat jeszcze ciągle ten film był zjawiskiem proroczym. W jakiś sposób jeszcze ciągle ten socjalizm, ten komunizm, ten... ten system, że tak powiem, istniejący u nas no nie mógł się, że tak powiem, z takim tematem zmierzyć i ciągle to był film najbardziej, że tak powiem, no, progresywny, jaki można było w tym czasie zrobić.

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: Man of Marble, Cannes, Jules Jacob, Toni Molier

Duration: 2 minutes, 43 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008