RATHER NOT-TRAVELLING CINEMA
Where are they? – asked Łukasz Maciejewski in the September issue of “Kino” magazine, having in mind young actors who appear on the big screen, shine and then disappear. And most of the time we find them in TV series, as say Jacek Poniedziałek or Przemysław Bluszcz, for whom screenplays would be written specially elsewhere. Others, young and talented, who have been mentioned in the text also ended up on the small screen, say Radosław Krzyżowski or Urszula Grabowska, who support, for good and bad, the hospital team (earlier left by Dorota Segda and Krzysztof Zawadzki) or Dominika Bednarczyk who, unfortunately, did not play a lot in Oficerowie (Officers): her role came down to playing an erotic scene, filmed in a spectacular way, and delivering trite lines like “get out of my life.” Actors, like Maja Ostaszewska or Magdalena Cielecka who avoided this form, have been appearing in TV series for a few seasons now. In interviews, they highlight the advantages of working in television, chances for developing their acting skills etc. It seems, however, that Maciejewski is quite right when he writes about TV series distorting the actor’s character; and the popularity gained from playing in M jak miłość (In the Name of Love) or Na dobre i na złe (For Good and Bad) series, that are watched by millions, might be dangerous because it may lead to their being pigeonholed as TV actors. Will, for example, Artur Żmijewski manage in Wajda’s Post Mortem to break with the image of the best Polish doctor? I naively believe that we will finally find our Polish George Clooney because his career is an uplifting example: his film debut (of 24 years ago) is still waiting for its premiere, as are 15 unbroadcasted pilot episodes in which he played; and before he became famous as Dr Ross he played in many third-rate productions (e.g. about the attack of bloodthirsty tomatoes) and he also was a supporting actor in TV series. ER was not only a good beginning: Clooney became a Hollywood star in the last few years, but he also proved that he was a good actor willing to take an artistic risk also behind the camera. If, in a few years’ time, one of our TV series stars directed a film to a standard of Good Night and Good Luck, or played a role comparable to David Strathain’s, it would be fantastic.
Kinga Preiss, the last year’s winner of Zbyszek Cybulski prize, is still waiting for such a role, although her output, both film and theatrical, is of no small importance. Industriousness, great talent and an interesting personality, lists Łukasz Maciejewski, who – this time in the December issue of “Kino” (12/2006) – presents the profile of the actress from Wrocław (Przypadek Kingi / Kinga’s Case). Although it does not need to be specially presented – they are still showing in cinemas Statyści (Extras) and Co słonko widziało (What Sun Has Seen) with her playing. A person of many talents, she can be beautiful on the screen, but she is not afraid of ugliness. I was amused by an opinion an elderly lady had about her, which I read somewhere: a good actress but of slow-selling beauty. She is very photogenic, though, and the camera loves freckles. She belongs to the actors who really sing – whoever listened to her interpretations of Nick Cave’s or Karolina Jędrusik’s songs, where in the heartbreaking O Romeo you could really feel the sadness of womanly generations, will confirm this. A big number of diverse works is a fact, but the actress is capable of much more – if only a scriptwriter wrote a distinctive, leading role for her. Having in mind what I wrote a year ago, and not wanting to be accused of putting a curse on her, I will not wish good luck to Kinga Preiss – following the example of the patron of the award – with finding her Wajda. Instead, she could find her Almodovar and, like Penelope Cruz, be awarded The European Film Award for the best actress. The European Oscars brought to us the famous world of film, although the event itself was reported rather as social – limousines, the red carpet and Magdalena Cielecka’s dress – than artistic. Certainly, it was a success that the gala event was organized in Warszawa, although some sport-analogies can be seen: the most certain road for a team to the Euro is to host it. The Polish cinema has been only represented by a debut film of Sławomir Fabicki, Z odzysku (Retrieval), so it is good that the Polish artists could at least give the awards to the winners. It is a pity that we could not see the whole of it and live, because the Polsat TV channel only broadcasted a shortened coverage the following day, and the public television was not interested in it at all – rightly so, it has not been an artistic event of a stature of Miss World contest.
The fact that there was no Polish artists among those nominated to the European Film Awards, was not a surprise to Sebastian Jagielski and proved his thesis expressed already in the title of his text: Kino zamknięte na świat (The Cinema Closed to the World). The young author (still a student) accuses the native filmmakers of indifference, if not even of being blind, to the world trends. He rightly brings back the examples from the past, when we managed – like in the case of the Polish school – to talk about our own matters using the universal film language. Wajda has never concealed his fascination in someone else’s work – without the Italian realism, there would not be his Pokolenie (Generation), without expressionism and surrealism – Has’s Pętla (The Noose). However, neither of them has been an epigone: creative transformation, inspiration, but not mindless copying opens up prospects for success. In the recent years, the Polish cinema, however, has chosen the opposite direction: reanimation of the old tricks, conventions once proven. Hence the wave of the great adaptations, with leading Ogniem i mieczem (With Fire and Sword), and the rerun of the cinema of moral unrest thanks to Komornik (Debt Collector) among others. Other sins include: superficial erudition, borrowing of gadgets from some one else’s films or indifference towards our own heroes. Certainly, the review is slightly tendentious, it lacks the exception, apart from Plac Zbawiciela (the Saviour Square), like the cinema of Kolski or Kędzierska, that would prove the rule. The Polish artists instead of transforming good, foreign models, “barricade themselves from other cinema and keep creating their quasi-films without style, without any idea, without form and without imagination. As if they did not notice that they do not listen to the rhythm of the contemporary film art, the cannot feel the pounding pulse of the cinema”. A harsh judgment, but not without a reason. We should only wish for a film reanimator to appear in 2007, who might not destroy the barricades but at least open the door slightly and let some light in.
Katarzyna Wajda
Translated by Kinga Witowska
Discussed journals: Kino