|
During the 9th
Polish Film Festival of Los Angeles, the lovely and hospitable home of Mr.
and Mrs. Jagoda welcomed three distinguished festival guests who became,
for that evening, also our guests and friends: famous actresses Danuta
Szaflarska and Danuta Stenka, and noted film director Dorota Kedzierzawska.
The ladies sat together on a massive sofa, with the Paradise-like view of
California gardens in the window, and talked to us, and with each other,
about their experiences in the beautiful and elusive arts of film and
theater – exchanging anecdotes, laughing, and sharing the joy of
creativity. It was my great pleasure and honor to serve as a hostess
for the evening, the Polish Barbara Walters, minus plastic surgery…
As behooves a decorated veteran of the stage, the 93 year old Szaflarska
dominated the conversation, but not because she was so commanding and
pushy. The great, yet diminutive actress was self-effacing and almost shy,
and had to be prodded by her colleagues to actually "brag" a
little about her achievements and experiences. In responding to my
questions, she embodied the noble Polish virtues of humility and modesty.
We started from her war-time experiences as member of the Polish Home Army
and participant in the Warsaw Uprising. To my recounting of her role
as communication officer ("laczniczka"), Szaflarska responded:
"What officer, I was not anybody special. I just carried the messages
from one place to another, from one group of fighters to another, that was
nothing unusual or great." She also explained her role in the
underground theater and the return to the stage and to film right after
the war modestly discounting her role in her first great hit,
"Forbidden Songs" (Zakazane Piosenki), based on actual war-time
songs criticizing or ridiculing the Nazis, and encouraging Poles to remain
hopeful, no matter what. She thought that everyone knew that film
anyway, so there was nothing much to talk about.
Szaflarska had a lot more to say about her collaboration with Dorota
Kedzierzawska, one of the most interesting film directors currently active
in Poland, creating stylish "art-house" films, with stunning
visual images and focused, intimate portrayals of her subjects, preferably
women or children. Here, too, good humor was in evidence as the
great actress said that Kedzierzawska seems to envision her as a witch or
old hag: in the first of the films she appeared she was "jedza"
in the next "wiedzma" - all the way to the lonely old
woman spying on her neighbors in "Time to Die" (Pora Umierac).
Asked about preparing for that role and whether she identified herself
with the character, Szaflarska pointed to her extended family and many
rich and happy relationships, and emphasized that acting is a craft. Her
portrayal of the lone, bitter and eccentric old woman was great because of
her talent and skills, not because she resembles the character. She
said she could play any role within limits of reason. For instance, she
was asked by Andrzej Wajda to appear in one of his films only once, to
play an old, rich, fat Jewish woman in "Korczak." She said
– "I could do old and rich, but fat?" The Grand
Dame of Polish Film entertained the guests with many charming stories
about the filming process on location for "Time to Die."
The boy who climbed through the window and appeared a complete ruffian in
the film, who actually was very sweet and bought her an expensive gift, a
rare, antique china teacup. The dog who was such a great partner and so
well impersonated the female Philadelphia (Fila for short), was actually
male and was not the first choice. That original dog, trained for weeks
for the role, completely "froze" in front of the camera, while
the new one was a natural, happily showing off just for the sake of it, as
well as for treats. He was handsomely rewarded with dog treats for
performing each scene, but went far and beyond the call of duty.
The director, Dorota Kedzierzawska, took part in the discussion of further
details of this film, starting from the third protagonist in the
triumvirate of the old lady, the dog and the house. It turned out
that the interiors and exteriors were filmed in different houses in the
Warsaw suburbian town of Otwock, filled with trees and historic buildings
in various states of disrepair. By the time the film was released
the house with interiors was already demolished. The crew visited
over 200 houses in order to identify the "actor" for the film;
and the final choice was made for visual reasons. The house had antique
windows with hand-made glass panes that were uneven and distorted the
light in various ways. The use of camera angles through the window
and the resulting distortions in the images created the unique, haunting
visual layer in this critically acclaimed black-and-white film.
I asked the director about the perfectionist editing and the use of sound
and music that was rarely focused and beautiful. It appeared that
she thought of everything and planned certain shifts in the narrative to
occur through sound. When the old lady was dreaming of her youth, she
heard a sweet waltz, but it was suddenly interrupted by loud barks of her
dog with all the sound effects accompanying the animal. These shifts
from dreamscape to reality occurred several times and added to the
enchanting, poetic character of the film.
Personally, I believe it was the best film I have seen since Andrei
Tarkovsky's Sacrifice and the best black-and-white film I ever saw (I
really like things to be in color, so I'm not a fan). In response to
my comment about possible relationships with the type of focused, detailed
imagery from daily life that Kedzierzawska shared with Tarkovsky (curtain
billowing in the wind, spilling milk, rough texture of freshly cut bread,
raindrops flowing down the window, etc.), the director reminded the
audience that she did actually study film in Moscow in one of the episodes
of her film education and that she knows well and appreciates the best
works of the Russian film school, from Einseinstein's "Battleship
Potiomkin” to Tarkovsky. A version of the famous "staircase scene" from the
latter film appeared in "Nothing" (Nic), with the woman and
children carefully placed on stern horizontal bars of steps.
Moving on to Kedzierzawska's philosophy of film-making, we next discussed
her work with children. She is known for great performances of
children in her films and the secret lies in her choices of children –
who are typically not the obvious "stars" of the audition
process, but somewhat shy children that slowly begin to shine and become
entirely natural in front of the camera. Children in "Time to
Die" and "Nothing" were extraordinarily real, not the
typical cute and endearing child stars, but defiant, angry, sad, and happy
children that one may see playing in the park. Kedzierzawska's
talent to elicit great performances from amateurs stems in part from her
experience as a documentary filmmaker and her interest in portraying
complex, living people, even very small people, who too have issues and
problems. Her director of cinematography was another reason for the
great sophistication and high artistic quality of her films. Their
collaboration lasted for a long time and she praised him for his ability
to clearly "see" her screenplays in visual terms that very
closely reflect her own vision of what they should look like. It is
a rare coupling of great artists that resulted in such mischievous and
wistful masterpiece as "Time to Die."
The most famous star on our panel, Danuta Stenka, showed true class of the
Queen of Polish Film, by letting her partners virtually monopolize the
conversation. When asked about her roles in Wajda films, she pointed
out that, like Szaflarska, she was only asked to appear in one of them and
also in a relatively minor role. She played a wife of a Katyn
officer in "Katyn" and was rewarded the Polish 2008 "Orly"
(Eagle) award for her intense and emotionally focused performance in the
supporting role in Katyn. Instead of dwelling on her success, Stenka
said that this is just one more thing that they both share. Another
example of shared experiences pointed out by Stenka was the fact that both
actresses were successful in their theater and film performances, dividing
their time equally between the stage and the camera. One classic
playwright that brought them together was Shakespeare. They both played
Catherine (Kasia) in the Taming of the Shrew!
Stenka, like Szaflarska, praised some of her favorite film directors,
including Kedzierzawska, for their ability to leave room for the actor's
own creative contributions. Jerzy Antczak, in "Chopin"
(she played George Sand), had the whole cast rehearsing the film
screenplay as if it was a theater show, for a month prior to shooting.
This allowed everyone to grow into the role so much so that their
performances appeared to be very natural and fresh. Stenka, like
many eminent, creative actors, greatly appreciates working with directors
that allow her to show a personal touch and individual approach to the
role. In contrast to that freedom and creativity was Robert
Wilson's theater direction of a spectacle done in Poland as a version of a
play that Wilson designed visually and in terms of stage motion and
previously staged in Italy and other countries. It was fascinating
to hear from a seasoned, talented actress a description of what
"torture" did the visionary, idiosyncratic director put her team
through. They all have to follow the directions with accuracy to minute
details, with each gesture, each position of the hands, speed of steps,
tilt of the head, to be reproduced exactly as filmed on the
"model." In this way, Wilson transformed the actors into
quasi-robots, whose only function was to reproduce and not to add
anything. The actors did not like it at first, but later mastered
his style so well that their performance, filmed by Wilson, was recognized
as the best of all the various versions of this play.
At the end of the evening, I switched subjects and asked Stenka about her
honors and her involvement in the region of her family – Kaszuby.
She rewarded me and the audience with speaking in the local language and
pointed out that while growing up she did not appreciate the unique beauty
of Kashubian forests and lakes. Only after travelling the world, did
she come to a realization that she did, in fact, grow up in Polish
Paradise. Different from our Californian one, but equally alluring. …
While the visit of Danuta Szaflarska to Los Angeles was one of a kind
treat and the star may never visit us again, we hope to see Danuta
Stenka during another meeting dedicated entirely to her art, views and
interests. For now, let me thank the three Dames of Polish Film for
their creativity and their gifts that have enriched us all….
Maja Trochimczyk
|
