100 Years of Polish Cinema (1995) - full transcript
A Paweł Łoziński film based on
a concept by Krzysztof Kieślowski
When you watch a film
and then you go to bed
and then you think about that film
in your sleep.
It's a kind of dream.
I guess, the cinema house itself.
The huge screen and the great big room.
The screen almost swallows you up.
The whole atmosphere outside
the cinema, the foyer,
the talking and whispering...
We go in
and take our seats,
the lights go out,
the screen lights up
and the curtain opens.
I'd forget myself.
I wouldn't know anymore.
I'd sit there with my mouth open
and I wouldn't know if that was me
or the main character.
Everything would go helter-skelter.
Sometimes, I'd be so moved...
I'm a big softy; I cry easily.
I'd have to turn away
to calm myself down.
Get hold of yourself!
I'd get completely caught up in a film.
Film is a wonderful thing!
Everyone would sit there
with bated breath,
laugh or cry-
depending on the content.
Well, it was nice to go to the cinema.
100 YEARS AT THE CINEMA
One day my older brother comes
and says
"There's a cinema in town. Let's go."
"What's 'cinema'?"
"They show pictures there, funny ones.
It'll be fun."
I was completely perplexed by it,
and how it was done.
I knew what it looked like
but I hadn't the faintest idea
who did it, or how they did it.
Those were incredible experiences.
The worst thing was when sometimes
they showed a car hurtling ahead
and it was done as if
it was going straight at you.
The scariest thing was when
there was a storm.
A full-blown storm.
They did it that way.
There was thunder and lightning
- huge thunderbolts.
And the little children sitting
right next to the stage
burst into tears
and started running away.
There was a gramophone in the corner.
It played so loudly you could hear it
out in the street.
Because they used it also to advertise.
They had posters up and it said CINEMA.
I can't recall the name.
But that wasn't for long.
Then they got rid of the gramophone
and replaced it with a piano.
Then there was a pianist.
She tried to illustrate
what was happening on the screen
with music.
I lived and breathed it.
I lived and breathed it.
The films, the whole cinema atmosphere.
I would push in with the lads,
flushed and covered in sweat.
When they opened the doors...
Because everyone was waiting
crammed outside the entrance.
They didn't let you into
the projection room.
When they opened the doors
there was a stampede.
People broke their arms and legs
to get in.
All you could hear was the sound
of the chairs being shifted about.
The room lacked proper ventilation
and it was really stuffy.
The porter would walk down the middle
and he'd be holding a pomp with
scented water
and he'd walk to and fro
and freshen the place up.
There was a lot of whistling
and stomping feet
when the film broke.
Then it was,
"Hey, Buster! Play or pay!"
they shouted.
And on the balconies a boy would
pinch you or pull you by your braids
or pull off your little beret.
Oh, what fun it was!
But the best thing was that you
didn't walk down from the balconies.
You slid down, ladies and gentlemen.
You slid down the banister.
The girls did, and everyone else.
That was smashing fun!
YOU KNOW THEM ALL!
THEY ARE YOUR FAVOURITES
There's a premiere!
Oh, goodie!
There'd be a crowd outside the cinema.
Because everyone knew that
the cast would be there,
top of the bill.
Everyone was dying to see
their favourite
actor or actress from up close.
And... you got your autograph.
You could collect them
and show them off later.
"Look, Brodniewicz signed
this one for me."
"Phew, Sapczyński wrote to me,
To a lovely lady.
Mine's better than yours."
Like all teenage girls I had
my heartthrob.
Mine was Franciszek Brodniewicz.
Every film with him was
a huge experience.
I couldn't wait
to go and see him again.
Sometimes I'd watch two shows
in a row.
Because you could stay after
the interval
and watch the film again.
So, I'd sometimes see the same
film twice.
It was 'puppy love', as we called it.
Excuse me, sir.
Yes, miss?
- Could we have your autograph?
- My autograph?
- Have you got a photo?
- Yes, we have!
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And you, miss?
- Haven't you got a photograph?
- No, I haven't.
Well then...
excuse me...
Here you are.
Good bye, miss.
Before the war actors were role-models.
Not just idols but also role-models.
One copied the way they dressed
and behaved,
the way they walked, stood and sat...
One parroted everything
they said and did.
I was in awe of their beauty.
Perhaps it was the theatre school.
They had a different posture,
gaze and manners.
That other way of being
struck a deep cord with me.
I felt something big was going on.
And then I picked up some of
those tricks
and scenes, and I used them.
I re-enacted them in real life.
Oh yes, I did!
The way he walked towards her and
tilted her little head before a kiss...
Those close-up scenes
were ready-to-wear.
My life would have been different
if it wasn't for films.
I took my examples from films.
I walked down the stairs
like in a film.
I tried to speak like in a film.
That's not right because you should
have your own individuality.
THE LEPER
IT IS
A CRY OF TWO ACHING HEARTS
WHICH ARE NOT ALLOWED
TO LOVE.
That poor lovely Stenia...
So much in love
with Lord Michorowski
and he with her.
And their first ball,
she - in a pretty dress.
And quelle surprise!
Beautiful young countesses are sitting
twiddling their thumbs while the men
all want to dance with Stenia.
And she walks past,
and the ladies are holding
their lorgnons,
as it was a la mode
to look through a lorgnon.
and it was also sardonic.
So when a countess looked through
a lorgnon
and hissed,
He kissed her hand!
Isn't that rather excessive?
That fat git made my blood boil
more than anyone!
His name was Barski, I think.
He was the one who called her 'leper'
and plotted against her.
To me, that was sheer nastiness.
Miss Rudecka is worthy of
greatest respect.
You speak of her as if she was
one of us, to say the least.
She deserves it!
One doesn't enter our circles
this easily.
To us, this person will always be
a leper!
She was walking through a forest
and her veil kept getting snagged on
bush branches.
And barely conscious...
and bedraggled, she walked and walked.
Valdi,
this is our wedding,
isn't it?
Why?
Why is it so quiet?
Why is there no one here?
Why?
Valdi!
You will believe me!
You love me!
Valdi, Valdi!
And she died.
I cried when she passed away.
Brodniewicz knelt down by her bed
and put his hands together.
Everyone was devastated.
I sobbed.
I sobbed my heart out.
What a beautiful scene that was!
It was deeply moving.
The scene where
heartsick Lord Michorowski
walks up to her portrait...
All that seems funny today
but in those days it was very moving.
STEFANIA RUDECKA
THE FIANCEE OF
WALDEMAR MICHOROWSKI,
12TH LORD OF THE GLEBOWICZE ESTATE,
DIED PRECIPITATELY.
- Where have you been?
- Let me pass!
I know about you and the master!
Who are you to him?
- A plaything, no more!
- What right have you got to me?
I made no promises to you!
What do you want?
Nothing!
Nothing, anymore!
Only, I'm sorry for you
like for no one else in the world.
I kept crying
because I was sorry for Halka.
She had this gorgeous fiance
called Yontek.
And I was sorry for him too.
He truly loved her.
Yontek!
How could you not cry?
They would have made
such a perfect couple.
And when Yontek sings up on that rock,
"O'er the summits firs are humming..."
That's marvellous.
O'er the summits firs are humming
far across the vales.
Oh, how wretched is one's being
when a young heart ails.
I was furious with the young
master for breaking up such a couple.
He knew he wasn't going to marry her,
didn't he?
He disgraced the poor girl, didn't he?
And then he dumped her.
Those were awful times!
See, how vulnerable a girl was then?
She had to run,
couldn't even say "hello"...
You see what women are like?
She fell for the young master.
What could you have to do
with a master before the war?
I'm not going to call a spade.
He did a bad thing.
He just took the girl.
He didn't know better,
and she drowned herself.
And how could you not cry?
It makes me feel like crying
just talking about it.
Yes, that's the truth.
If I was your only love
only I, only I.
If without me you couldn't live
and neither could I.
If the fire in your heart
burned as bright as does mine.
If the way you love now
forever you loved.
Nowadays, they kiss every five minutes.
And in the past
you watched the whole film...
And right at the end
there would be a light kiss,
which was the absolute highlight.
Nowadays it's appalling...
...all that never ending snogging
and eating each other up.
Things used to be subtle in the past.
It was tender and really interesting.
Who'd be interested in a kiss
on the screen nowadays?
My sweet princess
I think back to yesterday.
nights are restless
and mirthless is each day.
Films also played a role
in inciting people to make
declarations of love.
Because the romanticism was contagious
and you said in a flash
"And I love you so much!"
He is murmuring endearments
into your ear.
You feel nervous
and get all skittish.
Oh, Lord, how shall I react?
It was as good as taking love lessons.
Will you marry me?
You're crying!
No...
It's because
I'm happy.
A boy once took me to the cinema.
An usher lit the way for us.
In those days people would go in
during the show too.
And the boy...
Oh, how gorgeous he was.
His name was Kazio.
The man pointed his torch
at two free seats...
and said we should now give him a tip.
and Kazio said, "I have no money."
I'll never forget that.
That was so touching.
The poor thing was penniless.
I often think about that,
and I prey for him.
I hope the poor soul
is in a better place now.
He died young.
In his early twenties.
Those were wonderful times.
I would go to the cinema
for a bit of entertainment and a laugh,
not like some people who'd be
going out of the cinema in tears.
Sometimes you'd hear them boohooing.
To each his own.
It was enough to see Dymsza,
Sielanski, Znicz, or Orwid -
and you were laughing.
Two words and you were in stitches.
They were natural-born comedians.
It's so sad that
they're not around anymore,
they've gone
and they'll never record anything else.
You won't see them again.
That's a real pity.
Forward!
Before the war, whenever
they showed a patriotic film
everyone went to see it.
People queued to get in.
Young or old, everyone craved it.
Did you know, gentlemen,
that during the scene
where there was
a charge of peasant soldiers
people jumped up from their seats
and clapped their hands.
A real hubbub that was!
Even though...
these films had relatively simple plots
still, they were popular
because the war was imminent.
Everyone could feel it.
I went to the cinema twice
during the war.
They were your average run of the mill,
popular films.
I must have been standing
when someone threw some acid
at me and ruined my clothes.
The occupation lasted five years,
so that happened a couple of times.
You didn't go to the cinema at all.
On the contrary.
You did everything to deter people
from going.
There were special brigades
which stank the cinemas out with gasses
and started brawls.
Our propaganda, i.e. the propaganda
of the Underground Poland
encouraged people to boycott cinemas
- firstly,
not to give our money to the Germans,
and secondly,
not to let them indoctrinate us
with their German propaganda.
The cinemas were empty.
And then, after the war,
there was a boom.
Cinemas were bursting at the seams.
No matter what they showed
people flocked.
Polish films caught on especially fast.
They caught on
because they dealt with matters
which were very close to the bone,
and things that people had just
experienced.
"Canal", for example,
struck a cord with the Varsovians.
Go back in! There's gas!
Where are you going, people?
People!
I immediately identified
the imagery
with my horrendous experience
of the Warsaw Uprising.
There is a scene
in "Canal"
where the two young people,
who are in love with each other,
are going through canals.
I did that myself
from the Old Town to the centre,
so I know what that's like
and how dangerous it is.
Give me your hand...
- Don't let go!
- Jacek!
Finally,
the protagonists reach a grating
behind which
there is nothing but death.
I was genuinely shaken by it.
When the lights came back on
I was still sitting thunderstruck.
Rest a little now.
We'll go and sit out on the grass soon
No, no,
don't open your eyes.
It's too bright. The sun's come out.
I realize that
my emotions are stronger than the film.
But if a film
is capable of arousing them,
extracting them out of my brain cells;
if it can bring it all before my eyes
and once again trigger that deep fear
which made me
sit there glued to my seat
not knowing what was happening to me...
That is the power of that picture.
- Do you remember?
- What?
The moonshine at Ruddy's.
No.
- Don't you remember?
- When was that?
You do remember.
Stop fooling around!
- No?
- I don't remember!
No?
Haneczka,
Wilga,
Kosobudzki,
Ruddy,
Kajtek...
We're still alive.
I saw it as a story of a young man
and his lost dreams.
The war deprived him of his youth
and everything he had.
And the post-war reality
added insult to injury.
He simply didn't fit his times.
He didn't... But neither did
most of young Polish people.
Some went in one direction,
others in another
and ended up on the opposite sides.
Please understand, I can't go on killing
and hiding anymore.
I just want to live. That's all.
You've got to understand.
I don't have to do anything.
Are you saying this as a soldier
or as a friend?
- I don't understand.
- You don't want to understand.
As far as I'm concerned
I can only discuss this with you
as your superior.
You asked for it.
You took it upon yourself. So?
- You are my only friend.
- Spare me the melodrama.
You're in love? It's your problem.
But if you think you're going to
abandon our cause...
you know what we call that.
- I've never been a deserter.
- And who do you want to be now?
You brought it upon yourself!
I got the feeling that...
he seemed to be hitting a wall
but couldn't break it.
As if he could see people
and wanted to go to them
but there was an invisible wall.
Are you crazy?
He's got a gun!
Stop! Stop or I'll shoot!
Stop!
Watch out! He's got a gun!
- Where is he?
- This way!
Hurry!
That way!
I'm not particularly into heroism.
I mean...
I'm not impressed by
loftiness and solemnity
because I think these are intimate
inner things,
but my perception of the world is that...
it is equally funny and terrifying.
Here, history is refracted through
an individual fate.
That's why I find it amusing
that the mighty wrath
of all these armies and great powers
falls on the head of poor Piszczyk
who tries to get out of all this
with all his limbs.
There were peals of laughter.
I remember that we even came up
with a special laugh
which involved
roaring as loud as you could.
We even rehearsed it.
The cinema's here!
They've spotted it now!
They recognized the car
and dropped their hoes and baskets.
"A pretty film?"
"Of course, a pretty one."
"Off we go then!"
Barefooted, the women and kids
run screaming and shouting!
The whole village is merry!
TRAVELLING CINEMA NR 4
They didn't get changed or washed.
How could they?
There was no time for that.
The show could start at any moment.
TICKETS SOLD OUT
I was a little squirt.
So, mom and dad...
I had to work for it if I wanted to go.
They wouldn't have let me otherwise.
Bring coal, chop wood,
bring wood, bring water...
take out swill...
If I slogged all day
they might give me a few pennies.
It was Christmas come early!
Everyone would be there.
They'd sit on benches.
No, better!
They'd bring their own chairs.
Three grannies sat down on a bench,
and the bench gave way.
Skirts are flying up! They're down!
Someone's screaming
because his legs got caught under.
Sometimes,
that was better than the film!
There were scenes where people shouted.
Then it's quiet like in church.
Suddenly, a child's crying
because one actor
gives something to another.
"Give me one, too!"
Not anymore.
Everyone stays at home quietly.
But in those days...
Afterwards everyone commented.
"Did you see the film?"
"Of course. Pretty, wasn't it?"
"Very pretty."
You thought of nothing else.
My most cherished unforgettable film...
I still replay individual scenes
in my mind...
It was "Life of Matthew".
Even though I've lost my eyesight
- I'm blind -
some of the scenes
and the atmosphere are still
incredibly vivid in my mind.
That's my personal film.
The bird and I.
I and the bird.
I felt that
there was a lot of Matthew in me.
His sensitivity was very much like mine
- that private world of his.
He didn't pay any heed
to what was going on around him
where he lived or what he did.
I wanted to say to him,
"I understand you."
I wanted to help Matthew.
I forgot myself so much
that I wanted to do that.
I was devastated...
when he somehow sensed
that he had to go.
It struck a deep cord with me.
I thought that if I wanted to
free someone from myself
perhaps I'd do the same.
Looking at the screen
I felt as if I melted into the picture.
I identified with it.
Not in the sense
that I was sitting and watching
but I simply 'entered' the picture
and identified with the actors
and the plot.
She is sick. I must look after her.
Why you?
Because she's got no one else.
There is no girl who couldn't be
replaced by another.
But the piano is jealous
of your every hour.
If you neglect it, it will betray you.
I think his name was Krzysztof.
The boy who decided to look
after a girl.
I sometimes identified with him
because I'd been in a similar situation
and failed.
Then, I regretted I hadn't risen
to the occasion
though I could have helped.
It had been within my power.
- What are you doing?
- Go away!
Leave me alone!
Go away!
- Why did you do that?
- Because I don't want to rot alive.
Or be cripple like Margaret.
You are healthy. Do you understand?
Healthy. This is all hysteria.
Don't lie!
Don't humour me.
I don't want your pity!
I don't want your compassion!
Why don't you leave me in peace?
Because I love you, you fool!
Because I love you!
Don't you understand, Eva?
Can't you see?
Eva, you are healthy.
You must believe me.
My sweetheart.
I didn't give my support though I could.
I'm still with that girl. She's my wife.
But then, when she needed me most
I wasn't there for her.
You could say that...
it has haunted me all my life.
Cinema just doesn't tickle my fancy.
Especially Polish films.
The stuff bores me, period.
I'll watch a foreign one, alright.
Foreign films are dandy.
If you catch my drift.
You can...
What... for example?
You can get into them...
If you follow.
And a Polish film, goes like that:
boredom...
Nothing's going on.
Nothing.
Bad dialogues.
Very bad, the dialogues.
They lack action.
Nothing's going on.
To be honest,
my sister-in-law has recently told me
she communicates with her
boyfriend using lines from "Cruise".
I said, "That's impossible."
So she quoted some, and I said,
"Aha,
they actually often fit situations."
The same happens at my home.
My son and my wife do that.
I can't beat them, so I join them.
The next question.
A domesticated farm animal which
can be found by the Vistula river.
Make the sound.
Repeat the question, please.
A domesticated...
farm
animal
by the Vistula river.
Make a sound.
My name is Piotr Pietrzyk.
You misunderstood the question.
Not any sound.
An animal by the Vistula.
- Make its sound.
- How long have I got?
But...
specifically.
Do you or don't you know?
Of course, it is a cow.
What do the judges say?
A cow...
also. But we meant...
a horse.
A horse. Make its sound.
Stop!
Stop. Time's up!
What's the verdict?
Regrettably, the answer was not full.
We meant the oral sound.
Clippety-clop, clippety-clop...
That was the correct answer.
The questions are biased.
That's the worst thing. It's quite funny
because in Poland we like to laugh
at other people.
We find it harder to laugh at ourselves.
I can't say I love it,
but somehow I put up with it.
Out of curiosity,
how did you manage to arrange it?
A piece of cake.
I threatened the right people,
and I flattered the right people.
I appealed to their sense of duty
and they said uncle.
What about Torun?
I said he didn't come.
So, you lied.
Would you believe it?
I did.
But my dear colleague
what would life be without a lie?
Every morning, for instance,
someone would tell you
you had a pimple on your nose.
I'd be told my belly was too big.
And in the meantime,
I get to hear all kinds of mush.
"Oh, how much weight you've lost,
professor!"
While everyone knows I've been
gaining weight.
Everyone somehow found themselves
in the films
and identified with particular characters
and scenes.
In one scene there's a meeting
of the scientific circle.
A student... whether he speaks
sense or not is irrelevant...
but he has a thesis
which wants to present.
There is no debate.
He's scouted off hand
and libelled as a fool.
In fact, he gets treated
like a lot of us did
in those days.
That's why we identified
with certain situations
which were cinematic fiction.
Mr. Raczek, come forward, please.
Congratulations.
May I ask the vice-chancellor
a question?
Go ahead.
- Do you like Dostoyevski?
- What?
What are you doing?!
All of us
wanted to give someone a slap.
Each one of us
felt that they'd been framed by someone.
And this someone gets a slap
on your behalf.
I remember feeling repulsed
by this film.
Repulsed and compelled
at the same time.
It was an ugly film because of the
character of the disabled guy,
and of that hopelessly featureless
woman
and their life which
I would never want to experience.
And yet there was something
in its ambience.
They say that
sometimes you can smell the film.
I think I did.
It was a putrid stench of rot
and dirty bedclothes.
DON'T SHOOT AT ME
What's the matter, Jacek?
I have never
felt so good.
Do you believe me?
Do you believe me?
The film sickened me
but also really moved me.
At some point you realize
that you don't want to switch it off.
You'll sit through it
and remember scenes
and its whole atmosphere.
Ready...
That's good.
Don't! Don't move her.
Now, pick her up.
Go up to the window.
Go up to the window.
That was beautiful.
If she fell out of the balcony
you'd still be rolling.
Really, Filip, shame on you.
I won't let anyone say
a bad word about it.
That's just it.
It's my film.
Out of all Polish films,
it made the biggest impression on me.
100 per cent.
Maybe even out of all films.
It's as if it's been made
especially for me.
Oh, this will be a documentary.
It's great to see such great passion.
That put a spell on me.
You feel like doing and changing things.
Oh, Christ!
I sold everything
and I bought a camera.
That's how it started.
Now, I go around taking pictures.
I've seen lots of films in my life.
And I've forgotten a lot of them.
Some have stuck in my mind
and some only in snippets.
I sometimes forget the titles,
actors and directors...
But this is the only film...
...which keeps coming back to me
for some reason.
Watch where you're going, you idiot!
- You'll break your legs!
- I'm sorry!
Made me drop all my money!
Linda storms into the station,
runs to the ticket window,
some change spills on the floor,
and a guy wilfully steps on a coin.
I remember how it rolls and a guy
steps on it.
A beer, please.
The coin and the shoe stick in my mind
more than anything else.
I don't know why.
Excuse me, I'm in a hurry.
Excuse me, please.
One single student to Warsaw, please.
That's when the chain
of coincidences starts.
A single to Lomza.
This is an absolutely incredible film.
It made me realize
the significance of chance.
Our lives are governed by chance.
The school we pick, the people we meet,
what we achieve or fail to achieve...
And although what we do
is mainly up to us,
a lot still isn't.
There are lots of things we can't help.
At least, that's how I saw that film.
I can't imagine life where
everything's been planned and ordered,
and where I know what's waiting for me.
This way life a mystery.
I think it'll always be.
And that's what's fascinating.
I love fast action and when
there's lots going on.
I don't like monotonity [sic.]
because that's dull.
What is he, drunk?
Franz!
Franz, get the money and jump!
Get the fucking dough!
Go! There's always cops
around that bend.
What the fuck am I gonna say to them?!
Jump, Franz!
I prefer hard-ball stuff,
when there's constant action.
I like to come out of the cinema
feeling... I don't know... different.
I like a film to bring something new
into my life.
Who are you?
I crave adventure and I think
it would be very exciting
to be a gangster's girlfriend,
even for a moment.
To be honest,
if only I could play Boguslav Linda's
lover...
that would be...
If only I could find myself in a film
like that for a moment...
That would be very exciting.
Will you stop if it hurts?
Don't be stupid.
But will you?
Let me in.
That's it?
Kiss me.
Hey, you...
embrace me.
Not with your arms, crazy chick!
I was mesmerized by this film
from start to finish.
Michal?
What?
I liked it.
I'd like to watch a film,
that's smart,
and true,
where everything happens for real,
a feature film where people
don't kill each other.
I'd like it to be a little funny, too.
And fun.
Directed by
Editing
Director of Photography
Sound
Production Management
Films
Film Music Composers
Songs
Special Thanks
a concept by Krzysztof Kieślowski
When you watch a film
and then you go to bed
and then you think about that film
in your sleep.
It's a kind of dream.
I guess, the cinema house itself.
The huge screen and the great big room.
The screen almost swallows you up.
The whole atmosphere outside
the cinema, the foyer,
the talking and whispering...
We go in
and take our seats,
the lights go out,
the screen lights up
and the curtain opens.
I'd forget myself.
I wouldn't know anymore.
I'd sit there with my mouth open
and I wouldn't know if that was me
or the main character.
Everything would go helter-skelter.
Sometimes, I'd be so moved...
I'm a big softy; I cry easily.
I'd have to turn away
to calm myself down.
Get hold of yourself!
I'd get completely caught up in a film.
Film is a wonderful thing!
Everyone would sit there
with bated breath,
laugh or cry-
depending on the content.
Well, it was nice to go to the cinema.
100 YEARS AT THE CINEMA
One day my older brother comes
and says
"There's a cinema in town. Let's go."
"What's 'cinema'?"
"They show pictures there, funny ones.
It'll be fun."
I was completely perplexed by it,
and how it was done.
I knew what it looked like
but I hadn't the faintest idea
who did it, or how they did it.
Those were incredible experiences.
The worst thing was when sometimes
they showed a car hurtling ahead
and it was done as if
it was going straight at you.
The scariest thing was when
there was a storm.
A full-blown storm.
They did it that way.
There was thunder and lightning
- huge thunderbolts.
And the little children sitting
right next to the stage
burst into tears
and started running away.
There was a gramophone in the corner.
It played so loudly you could hear it
out in the street.
Because they used it also to advertise.
They had posters up and it said CINEMA.
I can't recall the name.
But that wasn't for long.
Then they got rid of the gramophone
and replaced it with a piano.
Then there was a pianist.
She tried to illustrate
what was happening on the screen
with music.
I lived and breathed it.
I lived and breathed it.
The films, the whole cinema atmosphere.
I would push in with the lads,
flushed and covered in sweat.
When they opened the doors...
Because everyone was waiting
crammed outside the entrance.
They didn't let you into
the projection room.
When they opened the doors
there was a stampede.
People broke their arms and legs
to get in.
All you could hear was the sound
of the chairs being shifted about.
The room lacked proper ventilation
and it was really stuffy.
The porter would walk down the middle
and he'd be holding a pomp with
scented water
and he'd walk to and fro
and freshen the place up.
There was a lot of whistling
and stomping feet
when the film broke.
Then it was,
"Hey, Buster! Play or pay!"
they shouted.
And on the balconies a boy would
pinch you or pull you by your braids
or pull off your little beret.
Oh, what fun it was!
But the best thing was that you
didn't walk down from the balconies.
You slid down, ladies and gentlemen.
You slid down the banister.
The girls did, and everyone else.
That was smashing fun!
YOU KNOW THEM ALL!
THEY ARE YOUR FAVOURITES
There's a premiere!
Oh, goodie!
There'd be a crowd outside the cinema.
Because everyone knew that
the cast would be there,
top of the bill.
Everyone was dying to see
their favourite
actor or actress from up close.
And... you got your autograph.
You could collect them
and show them off later.
"Look, Brodniewicz signed
this one for me."
"Phew, Sapczyński wrote to me,
To a lovely lady.
Mine's better than yours."
Like all teenage girls I had
my heartthrob.
Mine was Franciszek Brodniewicz.
Every film with him was
a huge experience.
I couldn't wait
to go and see him again.
Sometimes I'd watch two shows
in a row.
Because you could stay after
the interval
and watch the film again.
So, I'd sometimes see the same
film twice.
It was 'puppy love', as we called it.
Excuse me, sir.
Yes, miss?
- Could we have your autograph?
- My autograph?
- Have you got a photo?
- Yes, we have!
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And you, miss?
- Haven't you got a photograph?
- No, I haven't.
Well then...
excuse me...
Here you are.
Good bye, miss.
Before the war actors were role-models.
Not just idols but also role-models.
One copied the way they dressed
and behaved,
the way they walked, stood and sat...
One parroted everything
they said and did.
I was in awe of their beauty.
Perhaps it was the theatre school.
They had a different posture,
gaze and manners.
That other way of being
struck a deep cord with me.
I felt something big was going on.
And then I picked up some of
those tricks
and scenes, and I used them.
I re-enacted them in real life.
Oh yes, I did!
The way he walked towards her and
tilted her little head before a kiss...
Those close-up scenes
were ready-to-wear.
My life would have been different
if it wasn't for films.
I took my examples from films.
I walked down the stairs
like in a film.
I tried to speak like in a film.
That's not right because you should
have your own individuality.
THE LEPER
IT IS
A CRY OF TWO ACHING HEARTS
WHICH ARE NOT ALLOWED
TO LOVE.
That poor lovely Stenia...
So much in love
with Lord Michorowski
and he with her.
And their first ball,
she - in a pretty dress.
And quelle surprise!
Beautiful young countesses are sitting
twiddling their thumbs while the men
all want to dance with Stenia.
And she walks past,
and the ladies are holding
their lorgnons,
as it was a la mode
to look through a lorgnon.
and it was also sardonic.
So when a countess looked through
a lorgnon
and hissed,
He kissed her hand!
Isn't that rather excessive?
That fat git made my blood boil
more than anyone!
His name was Barski, I think.
He was the one who called her 'leper'
and plotted against her.
To me, that was sheer nastiness.
Miss Rudecka is worthy of
greatest respect.
You speak of her as if she was
one of us, to say the least.
She deserves it!
One doesn't enter our circles
this easily.
To us, this person will always be
a leper!
She was walking through a forest
and her veil kept getting snagged on
bush branches.
And barely conscious...
and bedraggled, she walked and walked.
Valdi,
this is our wedding,
isn't it?
Why?
Why is it so quiet?
Why is there no one here?
Why?
Valdi!
You will believe me!
You love me!
Valdi, Valdi!
And she died.
I cried when she passed away.
Brodniewicz knelt down by her bed
and put his hands together.
Everyone was devastated.
I sobbed.
I sobbed my heart out.
What a beautiful scene that was!
It was deeply moving.
The scene where
heartsick Lord Michorowski
walks up to her portrait...
All that seems funny today
but in those days it was very moving.
STEFANIA RUDECKA
THE FIANCEE OF
WALDEMAR MICHOROWSKI,
12TH LORD OF THE GLEBOWICZE ESTATE,
DIED PRECIPITATELY.
- Where have you been?
- Let me pass!
I know about you and the master!
Who are you to him?
- A plaything, no more!
- What right have you got to me?
I made no promises to you!
What do you want?
Nothing!
Nothing, anymore!
Only, I'm sorry for you
like for no one else in the world.
I kept crying
because I was sorry for Halka.
She had this gorgeous fiance
called Yontek.
And I was sorry for him too.
He truly loved her.
Yontek!
How could you not cry?
They would have made
such a perfect couple.
And when Yontek sings up on that rock,
"O'er the summits firs are humming..."
That's marvellous.
O'er the summits firs are humming
far across the vales.
Oh, how wretched is one's being
when a young heart ails.
I was furious with the young
master for breaking up such a couple.
He knew he wasn't going to marry her,
didn't he?
He disgraced the poor girl, didn't he?
And then he dumped her.
Those were awful times!
See, how vulnerable a girl was then?
She had to run,
couldn't even say "hello"...
You see what women are like?
She fell for the young master.
What could you have to do
with a master before the war?
I'm not going to call a spade.
He did a bad thing.
He just took the girl.
He didn't know better,
and she drowned herself.
And how could you not cry?
It makes me feel like crying
just talking about it.
Yes, that's the truth.
If I was your only love
only I, only I.
If without me you couldn't live
and neither could I.
If the fire in your heart
burned as bright as does mine.
If the way you love now
forever you loved.
Nowadays, they kiss every five minutes.
And in the past
you watched the whole film...
And right at the end
there would be a light kiss,
which was the absolute highlight.
Nowadays it's appalling...
...all that never ending snogging
and eating each other up.
Things used to be subtle in the past.
It was tender and really interesting.
Who'd be interested in a kiss
on the screen nowadays?
My sweet princess
I think back to yesterday.
nights are restless
and mirthless is each day.
Films also played a role
in inciting people to make
declarations of love.
Because the romanticism was contagious
and you said in a flash
"And I love you so much!"
He is murmuring endearments
into your ear.
You feel nervous
and get all skittish.
Oh, Lord, how shall I react?
It was as good as taking love lessons.
Will you marry me?
You're crying!
No...
It's because
I'm happy.
A boy once took me to the cinema.
An usher lit the way for us.
In those days people would go in
during the show too.
And the boy...
Oh, how gorgeous he was.
His name was Kazio.
The man pointed his torch
at two free seats...
and said we should now give him a tip.
and Kazio said, "I have no money."
I'll never forget that.
That was so touching.
The poor thing was penniless.
I often think about that,
and I prey for him.
I hope the poor soul
is in a better place now.
He died young.
In his early twenties.
Those were wonderful times.
I would go to the cinema
for a bit of entertainment and a laugh,
not like some people who'd be
going out of the cinema in tears.
Sometimes you'd hear them boohooing.
To each his own.
It was enough to see Dymsza,
Sielanski, Znicz, or Orwid -
and you were laughing.
Two words and you were in stitches.
They were natural-born comedians.
It's so sad that
they're not around anymore,
they've gone
and they'll never record anything else.
You won't see them again.
That's a real pity.
Forward!
Before the war, whenever
they showed a patriotic film
everyone went to see it.
People queued to get in.
Young or old, everyone craved it.
Did you know, gentlemen,
that during the scene
where there was
a charge of peasant soldiers
people jumped up from their seats
and clapped their hands.
A real hubbub that was!
Even though...
these films had relatively simple plots
still, they were popular
because the war was imminent.
Everyone could feel it.
I went to the cinema twice
during the war.
They were your average run of the mill,
popular films.
I must have been standing
when someone threw some acid
at me and ruined my clothes.
The occupation lasted five years,
so that happened a couple of times.
You didn't go to the cinema at all.
On the contrary.
You did everything to deter people
from going.
There were special brigades
which stank the cinemas out with gasses
and started brawls.
Our propaganda, i.e. the propaganda
of the Underground Poland
encouraged people to boycott cinemas
- firstly,
not to give our money to the Germans,
and secondly,
not to let them indoctrinate us
with their German propaganda.
The cinemas were empty.
And then, after the war,
there was a boom.
Cinemas were bursting at the seams.
No matter what they showed
people flocked.
Polish films caught on especially fast.
They caught on
because they dealt with matters
which were very close to the bone,
and things that people had just
experienced.
"Canal", for example,
struck a cord with the Varsovians.
Go back in! There's gas!
Where are you going, people?
People!
I immediately identified
the imagery
with my horrendous experience
of the Warsaw Uprising.
There is a scene
in "Canal"
where the two young people,
who are in love with each other,
are going through canals.
I did that myself
from the Old Town to the centre,
so I know what that's like
and how dangerous it is.
Give me your hand...
- Don't let go!
- Jacek!
Finally,
the protagonists reach a grating
behind which
there is nothing but death.
I was genuinely shaken by it.
When the lights came back on
I was still sitting thunderstruck.
Rest a little now.
We'll go and sit out on the grass soon
No, no,
don't open your eyes.
It's too bright. The sun's come out.
I realize that
my emotions are stronger than the film.
But if a film
is capable of arousing them,
extracting them out of my brain cells;
if it can bring it all before my eyes
and once again trigger that deep fear
which made me
sit there glued to my seat
not knowing what was happening to me...
That is the power of that picture.
- Do you remember?
- What?
The moonshine at Ruddy's.
No.
- Don't you remember?
- When was that?
You do remember.
Stop fooling around!
- No?
- I don't remember!
No?
Haneczka,
Wilga,
Kosobudzki,
Ruddy,
Kajtek...
We're still alive.
I saw it as a story of a young man
and his lost dreams.
The war deprived him of his youth
and everything he had.
And the post-war reality
added insult to injury.
He simply didn't fit his times.
He didn't... But neither did
most of young Polish people.
Some went in one direction,
others in another
and ended up on the opposite sides.
Please understand, I can't go on killing
and hiding anymore.
I just want to live. That's all.
You've got to understand.
I don't have to do anything.
Are you saying this as a soldier
or as a friend?
- I don't understand.
- You don't want to understand.
As far as I'm concerned
I can only discuss this with you
as your superior.
You asked for it.
You took it upon yourself. So?
- You are my only friend.
- Spare me the melodrama.
You're in love? It's your problem.
But if you think you're going to
abandon our cause...
you know what we call that.
- I've never been a deserter.
- And who do you want to be now?
You brought it upon yourself!
I got the feeling that...
he seemed to be hitting a wall
but couldn't break it.
As if he could see people
and wanted to go to them
but there was an invisible wall.
Are you crazy?
He's got a gun!
Stop! Stop or I'll shoot!
Stop!
Watch out! He's got a gun!
- Where is he?
- This way!
Hurry!
That way!
I'm not particularly into heroism.
I mean...
I'm not impressed by
loftiness and solemnity
because I think these are intimate
inner things,
but my perception of the world is that...
it is equally funny and terrifying.
Here, history is refracted through
an individual fate.
That's why I find it amusing
that the mighty wrath
of all these armies and great powers
falls on the head of poor Piszczyk
who tries to get out of all this
with all his limbs.
There were peals of laughter.
I remember that we even came up
with a special laugh
which involved
roaring as loud as you could.
We even rehearsed it.
The cinema's here!
They've spotted it now!
They recognized the car
and dropped their hoes and baskets.
"A pretty film?"
"Of course, a pretty one."
"Off we go then!"
Barefooted, the women and kids
run screaming and shouting!
The whole village is merry!
TRAVELLING CINEMA NR 4
They didn't get changed or washed.
How could they?
There was no time for that.
The show could start at any moment.
TICKETS SOLD OUT
I was a little squirt.
So, mom and dad...
I had to work for it if I wanted to go.
They wouldn't have let me otherwise.
Bring coal, chop wood,
bring wood, bring water...
take out swill...
If I slogged all day
they might give me a few pennies.
It was Christmas come early!
Everyone would be there.
They'd sit on benches.
No, better!
They'd bring their own chairs.
Three grannies sat down on a bench,
and the bench gave way.
Skirts are flying up! They're down!
Someone's screaming
because his legs got caught under.
Sometimes,
that was better than the film!
There were scenes where people shouted.
Then it's quiet like in church.
Suddenly, a child's crying
because one actor
gives something to another.
"Give me one, too!"
Not anymore.
Everyone stays at home quietly.
But in those days...
Afterwards everyone commented.
"Did you see the film?"
"Of course. Pretty, wasn't it?"
"Very pretty."
You thought of nothing else.
My most cherished unforgettable film...
I still replay individual scenes
in my mind...
It was "Life of Matthew".
Even though I've lost my eyesight
- I'm blind -
some of the scenes
and the atmosphere are still
incredibly vivid in my mind.
That's my personal film.
The bird and I.
I and the bird.
I felt that
there was a lot of Matthew in me.
His sensitivity was very much like mine
- that private world of his.
He didn't pay any heed
to what was going on around him
where he lived or what he did.
I wanted to say to him,
"I understand you."
I wanted to help Matthew.
I forgot myself so much
that I wanted to do that.
I was devastated...
when he somehow sensed
that he had to go.
It struck a deep cord with me.
I thought that if I wanted to
free someone from myself
perhaps I'd do the same.
Looking at the screen
I felt as if I melted into the picture.
I identified with it.
Not in the sense
that I was sitting and watching
but I simply 'entered' the picture
and identified with the actors
and the plot.
She is sick. I must look after her.
Why you?
Because she's got no one else.
There is no girl who couldn't be
replaced by another.
But the piano is jealous
of your every hour.
If you neglect it, it will betray you.
I think his name was Krzysztof.
The boy who decided to look
after a girl.
I sometimes identified with him
because I'd been in a similar situation
and failed.
Then, I regretted I hadn't risen
to the occasion
though I could have helped.
It had been within my power.
- What are you doing?
- Go away!
Leave me alone!
Go away!
- Why did you do that?
- Because I don't want to rot alive.
Or be cripple like Margaret.
You are healthy. Do you understand?
Healthy. This is all hysteria.
Don't lie!
Don't humour me.
I don't want your pity!
I don't want your compassion!
Why don't you leave me in peace?
Because I love you, you fool!
Because I love you!
Don't you understand, Eva?
Can't you see?
Eva, you are healthy.
You must believe me.
My sweetheart.
I didn't give my support though I could.
I'm still with that girl. She's my wife.
But then, when she needed me most
I wasn't there for her.
You could say that...
it has haunted me all my life.
Cinema just doesn't tickle my fancy.
Especially Polish films.
The stuff bores me, period.
I'll watch a foreign one, alright.
Foreign films are dandy.
If you catch my drift.
You can...
What... for example?
You can get into them...
If you follow.
And a Polish film, goes like that:
boredom...
Nothing's going on.
Nothing.
Bad dialogues.
Very bad, the dialogues.
They lack action.
Nothing's going on.
To be honest,
my sister-in-law has recently told me
she communicates with her
boyfriend using lines from "Cruise".
I said, "That's impossible."
So she quoted some, and I said,
"Aha,
they actually often fit situations."
The same happens at my home.
My son and my wife do that.
I can't beat them, so I join them.
The next question.
A domesticated farm animal which
can be found by the Vistula river.
Make the sound.
Repeat the question, please.
A domesticated...
farm
animal
by the Vistula river.
Make a sound.
My name is Piotr Pietrzyk.
You misunderstood the question.
Not any sound.
An animal by the Vistula.
- Make its sound.
- How long have I got?
But...
specifically.
Do you or don't you know?
Of course, it is a cow.
What do the judges say?
A cow...
also. But we meant...
a horse.
A horse. Make its sound.
Stop!
Stop. Time's up!
What's the verdict?
Regrettably, the answer was not full.
We meant the oral sound.
Clippety-clop, clippety-clop...
That was the correct answer.
The questions are biased.
That's the worst thing. It's quite funny
because in Poland we like to laugh
at other people.
We find it harder to laugh at ourselves.
I can't say I love it,
but somehow I put up with it.
Out of curiosity,
how did you manage to arrange it?
A piece of cake.
I threatened the right people,
and I flattered the right people.
I appealed to their sense of duty
and they said uncle.
What about Torun?
I said he didn't come.
So, you lied.
Would you believe it?
I did.
But my dear colleague
what would life be without a lie?
Every morning, for instance,
someone would tell you
you had a pimple on your nose.
I'd be told my belly was too big.
And in the meantime,
I get to hear all kinds of mush.
"Oh, how much weight you've lost,
professor!"
While everyone knows I've been
gaining weight.
Everyone somehow found themselves
in the films
and identified with particular characters
and scenes.
In one scene there's a meeting
of the scientific circle.
A student... whether he speaks
sense or not is irrelevant...
but he has a thesis
which wants to present.
There is no debate.
He's scouted off hand
and libelled as a fool.
In fact, he gets treated
like a lot of us did
in those days.
That's why we identified
with certain situations
which were cinematic fiction.
Mr. Raczek, come forward, please.
Congratulations.
May I ask the vice-chancellor
a question?
Go ahead.
- Do you like Dostoyevski?
- What?
What are you doing?!
All of us
wanted to give someone a slap.
Each one of us
felt that they'd been framed by someone.
And this someone gets a slap
on your behalf.
I remember feeling repulsed
by this film.
Repulsed and compelled
at the same time.
It was an ugly film because of the
character of the disabled guy,
and of that hopelessly featureless
woman
and their life which
I would never want to experience.
And yet there was something
in its ambience.
They say that
sometimes you can smell the film.
I think I did.
It was a putrid stench of rot
and dirty bedclothes.
DON'T SHOOT AT ME
What's the matter, Jacek?
I have never
felt so good.
Do you believe me?
Do you believe me?
The film sickened me
but also really moved me.
At some point you realize
that you don't want to switch it off.
You'll sit through it
and remember scenes
and its whole atmosphere.
Ready...
That's good.
Don't! Don't move her.
Now, pick her up.
Go up to the window.
Go up to the window.
That was beautiful.
If she fell out of the balcony
you'd still be rolling.
Really, Filip, shame on you.
I won't let anyone say
a bad word about it.
That's just it.
It's my film.
Out of all Polish films,
it made the biggest impression on me.
100 per cent.
Maybe even out of all films.
It's as if it's been made
especially for me.
Oh, this will be a documentary.
It's great to see such great passion.
That put a spell on me.
You feel like doing and changing things.
Oh, Christ!
I sold everything
and I bought a camera.
That's how it started.
Now, I go around taking pictures.
I've seen lots of films in my life.
And I've forgotten a lot of them.
Some have stuck in my mind
and some only in snippets.
I sometimes forget the titles,
actors and directors...
But this is the only film...
...which keeps coming back to me
for some reason.
Watch where you're going, you idiot!
- You'll break your legs!
- I'm sorry!
Made me drop all my money!
Linda storms into the station,
runs to the ticket window,
some change spills on the floor,
and a guy wilfully steps on a coin.
I remember how it rolls and a guy
steps on it.
A beer, please.
The coin and the shoe stick in my mind
more than anything else.
I don't know why.
Excuse me, I'm in a hurry.
Excuse me, please.
One single student to Warsaw, please.
That's when the chain
of coincidences starts.
A single to Lomza.
This is an absolutely incredible film.
It made me realize
the significance of chance.
Our lives are governed by chance.
The school we pick, the people we meet,
what we achieve or fail to achieve...
And although what we do
is mainly up to us,
a lot still isn't.
There are lots of things we can't help.
At least, that's how I saw that film.
I can't imagine life where
everything's been planned and ordered,
and where I know what's waiting for me.
This way life a mystery.
I think it'll always be.
And that's what's fascinating.
I love fast action and when
there's lots going on.
I don't like monotonity [sic.]
because that's dull.
What is he, drunk?
Franz!
Franz, get the money and jump!
Get the fucking dough!
Go! There's always cops
around that bend.
What the fuck am I gonna say to them?!
Jump, Franz!
I prefer hard-ball stuff,
when there's constant action.
I like to come out of the cinema
feeling... I don't know... different.
I like a film to bring something new
into my life.
Who are you?
I crave adventure and I think
it would be very exciting
to be a gangster's girlfriend,
even for a moment.
To be honest,
if only I could play Boguslav Linda's
lover...
that would be...
If only I could find myself in a film
like that for a moment...
That would be very exciting.
Will you stop if it hurts?
Don't be stupid.
But will you?
Let me in.
That's it?
Kiss me.
Hey, you...
embrace me.
Not with your arms, crazy chick!
I was mesmerized by this film
from start to finish.
Michal?
What?
I liked it.
I'd like to watch a film,
that's smart,
and true,
where everything happens for real,
a feature film where people
don't kill each other.
I'd like it to be a little funny, too.
And fun.
Directed by
Editing
Director of Photography
Sound
Production Management
Films
Film Music Composers
Songs
Special Thanks