a story lives forever
Register
Sign in
Form submission failed!

Stay signed in

Recover your password?
Register
Form submission failed!

Web of Stories Ltd would like to keep you informed about our products and services.

Please tick here if you would like us to keep you informed about our products and services.

I have read and accepted the Terms & Conditions.

Please note: Your email and any private information provided at registration will not be passed on to other individuals or organisations without your specific approval.

Video URL

You must be registered to use this feature. Sign in or register.

NEXT STORY

Everything for Sale as a great challenge

RELATED STORIES

Everything for Sale: The cast
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
Comments (0) Please sign in or register to add comments

I knew early on who would play the two women: Beata Tyszkiewicz and Elżbieta Czyżewska, especially Ela Czyżewska. I had always wanted to meet her, and I think it was a great mistake on my part that she wasn't in the film Innocent Sorcerers but I didn't know her at the time. Somehow, I hadn't noticed her. She was then a little known actress who had just begun to perform in the student theatre STS, since when she'd developed into an irreplacable performer. I remembered her from that time and decided the moment had come when I must meet her and I have to say our meeting was beautiful and fruitful. Andrzej Łapicki became the director of that unfinished film, while the rest was played by members of the crew who were making the film with me. Daniel Olbrychski was the actor who had to fill that place, and he rebels against this because he wants to be himself, he doesn't want to be an imitator of someone who's no longer there. Since he took the the place of Cybulski in my films, this whole story was in part taken from our life. I didn't write any dialogue because I didn't know how to, but since the screenplay had been accepted, I started shooting and gradually began to elicit from the actors what they thought about this and I allowed them to say whatever they had to say about it. Some had one opinion, others another. They created various situations, we recalled different events, we worked in complete freedom. We filmed what we wanted, where we wanted.

Bardzo szybko wiedziałem, kto będzie grał te dwie kobiety: Beata Tyszkiewicz i Elżbieta Czyżewska, zwłaszcza Ela Czyżewska. Zawsze chciałem się z nią spotkać. Myślałem, że to był mój wielki błąd, że ona nie zagrała w filmie "Niewinni czarodzieje", ale ja jej wtedy nie znałem. Ja jakoś nie dostrzegłem jej. Ona była wtedy bardzo mało znaną aktorką, zaczęła występować w studenckim teatrze STS, a nagle w międzyczasie wyrosła na właśnie aktorkę taką, no, niezastąpioną. Więc ja ją od tamtego czasu pamiętałem i pomyślałem, że to jest ta chwila, kiedy muszę się z nią spotkać i rzeczywiście muszę powiedzieć, że to było piękne i bardzo owocne spotkanie. Andrzej Łapicki został reżyserem tego właśnie niespełnionego filmu. No a resztę grała ekipa – ci, którzy robili ze mną ten film, no i Daniel Olbrychski jako aktor wchodzący na to miejsce, który się przeciwko temu buntuje, bo chce być sobą, nie chce być imitatorem tego, który odszedł. Ponieważ on wszedł na miejsce Cybulskiego w moich filmach, więc jak gdyby to była opowieść też i częściowo z naszego życia. Dialogu w ogóle nie napisałem, bo nie umiałem napisać dialogu, ale ponieważ miałem zatwierdzony scenariusz i ruszyłem, że tak powiem, ze zdjęciami, więc powoli zacząłem z aktorów wydobywać to, co oni myślą na ten temat i pozwoliłem im mówić to, co oni mają do powiedzenia. Jedni byli takiego zdania, inni innego. Wytwarzały się najrozmaitsze sytuacje, przypominaliśmy sobie różne wydarzenia, pracowaliśmy w kompletnej wolności. Robiliśmy film gdzieśmy chcieli, cośmy chcieli.

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: Everything for Sale, Innocent Sorcerers, Zbyszek Cybulski, Beata Tyszkiewicz, Elżbieta Czyżewska, Andrzej Łapnicki

Duration: 2 minutes, 2 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008