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First screening of Ashes and Diamonds

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A film with fast acting
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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Once the film was made, there were two interesting facts. First, we watched the film in the Wrocław studios just by ourselves. The actors were mainly watching themselves, and I was observing how the film had been made while Adam Pawlikowski, who was the best-educated of us all with an independent mind, made the following statement to me, 'Listen, I don't know if it's a good or a bad film, but in no other Polish film do the actors act so fast.' This was, so to say, a separate concern of ours. One thing that we sincerely detested was the slow pace of acting of Soviet actors. We didn't like those films because they were so drawn-out, so pompous. No, we were moving forward in the belief that Poland can only be saved - of course, our youth imposed this on us - by the rhythm of young people who wanted to see this kind of cinema. It wasn't just cinema we were concerned with, because it also expressed a kind of political enlivenment, an opposition to this paralysis which was gradually crushing us more and more. Then came the terrible years, first the end of Bierut's rule prior to the death of Stalin, then the long period of decline under Gomułka. Yet that's when we felt that a film needed to be full of energy, that the energy transmitted through the screen was joining us to the West. This is what films in the West were like, whereas the ones that came to us from the East were all so sleepy. So it wasn't just a question of aesthetics, it was a matter of ideology. And then Adaś Pawlikowski says, 'Listen, their acting is fast.' Their acting was fast so we knew then that everything was fine.

Kiedy film został zrobiony, dwa fakty były interesujące. Po pierwsze: obejrzeliśmy sami ten film we Wrocławiu w wytwórni w naszym gronie, no... aktorzy głównie obserwowali siebie, ja obserwowałem jak jest film zrobiony, a Adam Pawlikowski, który był z nas wszystkich najbardziej, że tak powiem, jak już powiedziałem, i wykształconym, i takim niezależnym umysłem, powiedział do mnie takie zdanie. Mówi: 'Słuchaj, ja nie wiem czy to jest dobry czy zły film, ale powiem ci, że w żadnym polskim filmie jeszcze aktorzy nie grali tak szybko'. A to było nasze, że tak powiem, osobne zupełnie zmartwienie. Czego myśmy nienawidzili szczerze – powolności gry aktorów sowieckich. Nam się te filmy nie podobały, bo one były takie rozwleczone, takie wycelebrowane, takie... Nie! My szliśmy, bo uważaliśmy, że Polskę może uratować tylko – oczywiście, że nasza młodość to nam narzucała – nasz rytm, że tak powiem młodych ludzi, którzy takie kino chcieli widzieć. Ale nie tylko chodziło o kino, chodziło o to, że w tym się wyrażała też jakaś polityczna idea ożywienia, przeciwstawienia się właśnie temu bezwładowi, który powoli nas coraz bardziej przygniatał. No i potem przyszły straszne lata, najpierw koniec rządów Bieruta, przed śmiercią Stalina, no a potem długi okres zapaści Gomułki, co pewien czas przeżywaliśmy. Ale wtedy czuliśmy właśnie, że film musi być pełen energii, że ta energia, która bije z ekranu, nas łączy z Zachodem. Tak wyglądały filmy na Zachodzie. A natomiast te, które przychodziły ze Wschodu, były takie wszystkie śnięte. Więc to nie była tylko sprawa estetyczna, ale to była sprawa jakby ideologiczna. No i Adaś Pawlikowski mówi: 'Słuchaj, grają szybko'. Grają szybko, to już wiedzieliśmy, że jest dobrze.

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: Wrocław, Adam Pawlikowski

Duration: 2 minutes, 20 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008