All language subtitles for Lekcja.polskiego.kina (2002) srt. ENG

Subtitles made by fidel_17 for surrealmoviez.info

LESSON OF POLISH CINEMA

Andrzej Wajda tells how Polish School Movement (PSM) arise

I dedicate this film to Discussion Film Clubs,
the most faithful viewers of polish cinema

To the polish cinemas is going movie "Ash and diamond"
based on famous novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski.

Director is Andrzej Wajda, who also participate in script writing.

Cameraman - Jerzy W�jcik.

Zbigniew Cybulski and Ewa Krzyzewska from
Cracov Theatre School playing the lead characters.

Working photos from making "the bar scene" - Maciek Che�micki meet Krystyna.

POLISH FILM INDUSTRY

I asked myself many times - Why polish hell is paved with good wishes?

Pre-war start of polish cinema was full of hope
group of people who didn't what that kind of cinema
that existed before war

didn't want (mainly) "producer's cinema" but "director's cinema

but they didn't can do anything because producer's cinema was reflection of audience taste...

And know, what amazing coincidence, people with various
political curriculum vitae's appears on polish cinema stage because:

With Red Army (as polish army in polish uniforms) came Aleksander Ford and Stanislaw Wohl.

Wanda Jakubowska went out from Auschwitz concentration camp.
Jerzy Zarzycki went out from Warsaw Uprising, he survived.

Came Antoni Bohdziewicz, who was also connected with "Armia Krajowa"
(Polish militar movement existing during World War II).

From west came Eugeniusz C�kalski.

And, it's amazing, it appears that this people from pre-war period survived and, moreover,

they still can communicate with each other and create polish cinematography.

They make foundations for three branches of polish cinema in the same time:

Firstly, they made film industry possible again.

Czes�aw Mi�osz in his book described how it's looked (reanimation of film industry)

He interested in it, because he wanted to realize movie "Robinson warszawski".

Citation from Mi�osz: "We completed first draft on scenario with Jerzy Andrzejewski...

and went to "Polish Film" to Lodz (city name. heart of polish cinema industry)...

In these times this institution was a little bit similar to drunken squat

because it was interested in stealing any possible goods (equipment, cars, houses)...

Directors in uniforms of polish and soviet army give
an example of "practical forethought" (ironic)...

that is characteristic for soviet's experience." (end of citation)

Indeed, it could look like this,

but duefact that our older friends like to "accumulating goods" (stealing)
polish cinematography can born.

For example - equipment stolen from German's UFA movie company

was that we had used to making our first movies.

Today marshal visited laboratory of military film studio.

He was especially interested in frames from movie about

polish participation in the Battle of Berlin,
which is prepared at this moment.

Our operator must climb on the roofs of old city
to find documentalict Jerzy Bossak.

Director Ludwik Perski, co-creator of movie about Warsaw

and operator Olgierd Smaucewicz.

People from START OF (cinema after war) imagined post war cinema that will satisfy them.

Firstly, it was to be cinema of directors,

who made them own movies with own taste of it.

It was to be start of artistic cinema,

as the name 'START OF' tells.

Moreover, these people wanted to realize 'collective cinema' model.

In general, after war people (in them naivety) talks a lot
about 'collectivity' and 'collective economy' as a gift of socialism.

To 1948 all have heads full of big delusions about it...

So, idea to organize 'collective cinema' was very attractive at this time.

But, you think, what I mean when I say 'collective cinema'?

'Collective cinema' is model in which movies are made by 'movie teams'.

We have in it experienced directors who
take care about shooting and leading rest of group.

We have scriptwriters/writers who take care about literary foundations of projects.

And, finally, we have somebody who takes care about production.

Over time, to teams join young filmmakers,
who gains experience in allongsie of oldest friends.

They gaining experience in practice
(help to direct movies, helping scriptwriters etc.)

And suddenly, as you see, in this polish hell,

which is always paved with good wishes

by the will of These people arised polish cinema

Title, director, year

[Prayers in Hebrew]

As soon as first movies of that period were made,

it made a hit and interested Europe and rest of the world.

(I think about "Ostatni etap" by Wanda Jakubowska and "Ulica graniczna")

But in early 50's it turns out that (in eyes of Communist Party)

"every polish movies suffer for narrow horrizons"
(when quote - communists critics)

"Ostatni etap" by W. Jakubowska"didn't realize program of 'movie team"...

Despite the fact that in real it was very close to it (Wajda's opinion).

"Ulica graniczna" by Ford was being accused of

"wander along the blind tracks of universal humanism and commend pain and martyrdom"...

In Antoni Bohdziewicz's movie "Za wami p�jd� inni", as critic said,

"we have in center young male protagonist of undefined class"...

so in soviet optics it's worthless story.

The same about "Robinson warszawski"...

So, we can say, that Communist Party WANT polish cinema,

but certainly not in the 'Directors Cinema' form.

I think that from very beginning,

as soon as polish cinema was spreading it wings and
coming close to Europe and rest of the world

and we watched european cinema and europeans watched our movies

Party was afraid of losing control upon it (cinema).

Party was afraid that when polish cinema made a hit on western market,

it will get out of communists hands and sail away in it's own direction.

In which way?

In direction of western world!

I refer to the correspondence between
Czes�aw Mi�osz and Jerzy Andrzejewski:

Mi�osz: "Interwar Poland, represented by the government in exile

and AK (Armia Krajowa) suffered a defeat.

Instead, with help of Red Army, the communists won
(with own plan of rebuild country)

Emigration and 'Polish Underground' believs that the outbreak of World War III is close,

so colaboration with new, communist, government is useless.

Who didn't believe in WWIII must accept postwar division of Europe as a permanent state

and tried to adjust to this circumstances.

Neither I nor my friends didn't believe in WWIII..."
(end of quote)

I didn't believe in WWIII too and (during the WWII),

I remember that I made my life in hands of the gonverment in exile,
because I swore an oath to AK.

In time when I got second chance and survived WWII

I didn't want to give my life in the same hands.

It will be unreasonable.

That's very important...

And later?

Later, after war, was enthusiasm of young people,
who stood on the ruins and want to start restoration.

First postwar years not give the impression of upcoming hard sovietization...

To 1948, as i said, we have big dellusions and big hopes on the future...

Wladyslaw Kolbert cleverly get around to filming

a new movie heroine from 'Sk�d idzie burza'.

Director Wanda Jakubowska and operator Stanis�aw Wohl

We are waiting for the sun!

Everything is done. Army joins the attack!

Movie is directed by Andrzej Ford, operator is Jerzy Lipman.

We, and all moviegoers, are curios about how german actress

will handle with specific polish atmosphere of Marek H�asko's works.

Below My�lenice peaks operator Sergiusz Sprudin starts night shoots.

Director Andrzej Munk can't complain about high comfort...

...but scenery - beautiful!

So we have cinema industry...

But, on the other hand, Antoni Bohdziewicz, Stanis�aw Wohl...

and, after short moment, Jerzy Toeplitz opened Polish Film School in ��d�.

They opened film school in the moment, when we have 2-4 premieres in the year!

And we still had have enough pre-war directors

who can without any problem handle with this 2-4 movies.

School of dreams

In this place every person at least feels like Rene Clair or Eisenstein.

Everyone need to listen lectures by rector - Jerzy Toeplitz.

Jerzy Bossak talks about directing and souls
of students wanders somewhere around Hollywood.

At the operator faculty real cameras at last.

Stanis�aw Wohl says: "Good operator always earns his 1000 thaler"

Editing of film is philosophy and poetry, says Antoni Bohdziewicz.

School controlled our etudes.

Or maybe more suitable word will be 'censored'.

Did it more severely than outside censors.

But School did it with deep conviction that is better...

that teachers and professors did it with
participation of students inside the School...

than somebody from outside (Communist Party) came to school to do that.

I think that they had right about it.

They had it, because we had early 50's.

The most sullen time for polsih art, time of hard stalinism.

Andrzej Munk, who is one year older than me,

prepared his student etude in those days.

He noticed some very interesting phenomenon for those society.

Noticed that after war a lot of us came out
from woods (partisans), concentation camps...

Acording to that fact, many of us were dying from tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis, in those days, was incurable.

So our friends were dying, were disapearing...

Munk wanted to do the movie about that.

To leading roles he chose Joanna Kulmowa,
who just finished Actors School in ��d�,

and me, because i was at the time very pale and slim.

I was great consumptive, so to speak.

We started auditions and Andrzej was full of enthusiasm.

He was talking that it will be great movie.

Unfortunately, our work was very short, because School said 'NO' to the project.

They said that movie about tuberculosis will be too pessimistic.

So, as you see, School didn't encourage us to do 'our cinema'.

When I looking back at these times, times of my years in ��d� School...

I think that only one, important thing that I took from it...

are lessons about avanguarde in the cinema.

That was select movies prepared by Georges Sadoul for French Film School.

Jerzy Toeplizt took it from Paris and bring to ��d�.

I remember that it contained 'Ballet mecanique'...

L'Age d'or by Bunuel, Rene Clair's movies...

Briefly speaking, all pleiad of avanguarde cinema.

I remember that it contained fragments of german expressionism cinema too.

These were only fragments...

but on the basis of them we was able to orient...

in these explosion of avanguarde ideas in cinema from 20's.

What that meant to me?

That meant that this way of cinema reached it top

and we, young directors, must search cinema in which we talking about.

Search our cinema not in form of it, but mainly in story.

And acording to that we talked about world, which was our world...

world of occupation, poverty and dullness...

film movement that was very important tu us...

was italian neorealism.

German occupation, war - this was our subjects.

And, in those times, took place very important meeting.

People often forget about that, but it's very impornant.

Polish School Movement was on high level, beacause...

arised as friut of meeting between literature and movie.

Scenarios were literary works of writers
that took responsibility for them works.

Scripts were not only classic, simple movie scripts, it was Literature.

It was stories about war by Borowski and Na�kowska.

It was stories by Andrzejewski, Brandys or Rudnicki.

Whole literature was at our disposal.

Our only problem was about what communists will alows us to do.

In addition, power of this literature lied in fact, that...

it was written paralllelly to events, about which it's tells.

POLISH FILM SCHOOL MOVEMENT (PFSM)

PFSM has began with three movies.

Firstly, Jerzy Kawalerowicz's "Celuloza", realised in 1953.

How far we have to America?

30 kilometers.

[Fabric of cellulose in Wroc�aw - on singboard]

Maybe is not here?

It's surely here.

Praised be Jesus Christ, daddy!

For ever and ever, Amen.

For which kermess are you come? (with irony)

We came to celluloise (with mistake) or, as you say, 'To America'...

After first, we have two more.

"Godziny nadziei" directed by Jan Rybkowski and based on script by Jerzy Pomianowski.

It turned out to be very all-embracing movie,
which talked about hours of liberation of 45'.

Talked about it on the background of masses movin across the screen.

And, finally, my movie - "Pokolenie", realised in 1954 too.

We all debuted in this movie.

I as director, Kazimierz Kutz as assistant director,

Andrzej Markowski as composer

and Bohdan Czeszko as scriptwriter.

I think that these three movies,

refer to tradition of italian neorealism.

That was start to new actors,

new way of staging, new way of shooting outdoor scenes

(wide landscapes, crowds od people).

And, I think... In this moment polsih postwar cinema starts.

We don't have any problems with pre-war polish cinema...

Flows, flows the time.

Gently, gently sleeps heart in us.

After it suddenly somebody will come,

and it's the end of sleep.

You know he is the one.

You know she is the one.

And lips are obedient to heart...

We didn't watch these movies,

we didn't interest in it.

So, how type of cinema was interesting to us?

Mainly, Italian Neorealism.

Why?

Because in that way we have benn seeing us during the war.

Hey, damn it!

Hey, you! Boy!

Hurry up!

You! Damn it!

I worked in workshop similar to that from "Pokolenie".

I was chasing for glue, working on constructions as a locksmith.

So, as you see, world of neorealism,

was picture of our lives during the german occupation.

At first, this movie was to be realised by Aleksander Ford

for ten anniversary of PRL, but meanwhile he got better topic.

Yes, I've got this movie after Ford...

And I think that authority expected much more from this movie then it got.

Despite the fact, that "Pokolenie" realised some outlines of socrealistic cinema,

it had a lot of problems with censorship.

During the meeting with authorities I heard...

that youth ine the movie is not socialists idealists from ZWM

who fight with germans during occupation...

They said that youth from the movie is lumpenproletariat!

They didn't expect that.

In this moment Aleksander Ford, who was supervisor of the movie,

tried to protect it with his authority.

It wasn't common behavior in these days...

Go, go, go! [germans in background]

MOVIE TEAMS

Until Movie Teams we had marasmus of lack of good scripts,

decisions and possibilities to work.

Existence of Movie Teams proved

that only people who makes movies can manage national cinema.

These pepole, not authorities.

When we had 456 Movie Teams and 123 movies in the year

managers of Teams must gave chances to young directors.

Team must have been producing something,

so managers giving us chances...

Movie Tams from very begining wanted to avoid situation

in which authorities from "outside" manage cinema.

Ford or Jakubowska saw themselves as a communists

and they felt that they can take responsibility

for ideological correctness of movies that was realised in them Teams.

Not only for them movies, but movies made by all of us.

MOVIE TEAM "KADR" PRESENTS

Wladek, listen...

What with him?

It's starts again.

I don't have patient for this anymore.

You are the one, who don't have patience?!

You nit! You want be on right side!

You boor, I will teach you scrub!

I will teach you!

What's goin on here?!

We are goin on 'one"!!!

Go!

Wait, in this codition you can't drive locomotive.

Somebody from reserve will come.

At the start of activity of Jerzy Kawalerowicz's Movie Team "Kadr"

we had three movies of our screens.

Munk's "Man on the tracks",

Konwicki's "The last day of summer"

and mine "Canal".

That was start of Kawalerowicz's "Kadr"

and the fist voice of new generation of the polish filmmakers.

THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER

T.Konwicki's "The last day of summer"

is one of the most original movie of all times.

I think that it preceded the movies of French New Wave,

both tematically and realizationally.

Moreover, this movie was realised in style of New Wave.

This is the movie which was filmed among group of friends on the beach.

But, beside realization, the most important is topic.

Konwicki showed us two young people infected by war.

They are on beach...

They are free and can do anything...

But the time that is behind still haunting them...

And, after all, they can't do anything.

Jacek Fuksiewicz well described this movie and it's topic:

"When women finally make this beautiful, trustful and full of happiness motion -

- motion of the needs of other it's too late.

Man who layed beside is already gone -

- entered the water forever...

Fate of lost generation had to be copleted in this way..."

[end of quote]

NIGHT TRAIN

Come to mee.

Hear? Come.

Go back to your place.

You know how madman I am.

If you'll not come, I will jump!

No!?

Movie "Celluloza" amazed everyone with it's perfection.

Kawalerowicz was the first filmmaker in Poland,

who made movies so technically perfect.

Yes...Jerzy Kawalerowicz's striving to perfection...

I think, that "Night Train" is great example of that

because in it Kawalerowicz revealed as a master of cinema.

When we was working for "Kadr",

we all refering to Kawalewowicz's works.

He was our master.

MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS

PSM was highly differential.

Munk's movies was ironically mean,

exposing the myth of Heroic Poland.

BAD LUCK

Has's movies was refering to old french films

(Marcel Carne for example),

full of mystery and melancholy...

Hello, going to work?

THE NOOSE

No I have free day today,I must do something important.

Don't be so serious, I drink a little too already.

One big!

Appetizer?

Nice drinking man...

You want drink with me?

With pleasure,

but I have no money.

You'll be my guest.

But we don't know each other.

I know you

Me?

Yes. Your name is Kowalski.

It's mistake.

My name is...

Oh, our names have no matter,

all know us...

We are humans, It's noble.

Take vodka Wladziu, I'll pay!

Hey! Manageress! 2 vodka

but fast, because we are in hurry to go to school (joke).

Eight.

stanislaw Rozewicz's "Free city" refers to Rossellini's movies,

the most to "Rome, Open City".

This skill to combinate documental photos and

pictures stylised to documental was very fresh for polish cinema.

The most moving was the last scene of that film,

in which defenders of polsih post in Gdansk

were going between crowd of Germans.

It looked like real german records...

When we are watching this movie today we can see

how well polish cinema learned from Italian Neorealism...

And now I will shoot you nit!

CROSS OF VALOR

I will shoot you for your help in slaughter polish people!

Finish him!

My finger don't want to bend...

I told you!

Don't think that I am so weak.

That's embarrassing...

So we leave him here to dead!

Lay!

Lay! We don't want you.

Gestapo! Volksdeutsche!

We don't want you!

Murderer!

Volksdeutsche!

SS-man!

On the other hand, Kazimierz Kutz brought to polish cinema

very specific kind of humor and folk view to reality.

We don't have this before,

because polish cinema was cinema of intelligence.

And this new voice (Kutz) was significant to our later cinema.

Among PSF movies a lot of people rightly lists "The Depot of the Dead" from Petelski.

It's interesting, becasue script to this movie

was written especially to it.

Another PSM's movies are generally based on literature

that existed before script.

That was power of PSM, I think.

But Marek Hlasko (scrpitwriter, writer) was excited by American cinema at this moment

and he was searching for some oportunity to contact with film industry.

Firstly I was the one, who had direct this ("The Depot of the Dead").

But finally Petelski made the movie.

And, as we can see, in final version we don't have Hlasko name in initial subtitles.

We have this situation, because Hlasko left the country

and said in Paris something that authorities didn't like...

Moreover, He met with "Kultura Paryska" (polish magazine banned by communists).

So, cut him off.

THE DEPT OF THE DEAD

My chain is broken,

few minutes and chaise will collapse.

Maybe not,

but trailer is done, that's for sure.

I will tray to merge endings with buckles.

More, more!

[He's screaming the name of the other man]

Symbolic picture of this movies moves not only polish viewers.

Maybe the fact that these movies talked more with pictures,

than words enabled them success abroad.

All group of our great operators:

Kolberger, Lipman, Wojcik, Laskowski, Jachoda

made this cinema "watchable" to foregin audience.

These pictures demanded for attention...

.. and done this with power that is not possible with dialogues.

Also, documental movie was great support to PSM.

Jerzy Hoffman and Edward Skorzewski came back from studies in Moscow Film Institute

and showed us not socrealistic type of shooting reality

(we all thinked that they do that)

but shooting that showed us the real world as is it.

LOOK OOT, HOOLIGANS!

A step away from you somebody commited a murder.

Do not cover yourself, watch!

Astonishing student's movie

which was shooted after 1956 (political thaw after Stalin dead)

under the custody of Antoni Bohdziewicz was "The End of Night".

It's important that in this young,

full of energy movie attended people

that later stayed with polish cinematography.

Roman Polanski was an actor,

Jerzy Wojcik was an operator,

Zbyszek Cybulski played in it before role in "Ash and Diamond"

and Ryszard Filipski,

one of the mots tallented polish actors played there too.

You are similiar to your father!

You know mother? You are shrew!

THE END OF NIGHT

Be careful!

What do you want sir?

All the best.

Look like young disregards you. Did you see that?

Year 1956 was for us clear caesura.

We felt suddenly the breath of freedom,

but we don't exactly know from where it comes.

I, for example, always stayed away from politics and I think

that was my power.

A lot of our friends - not only directors, but

writers, painters, etc. engage themeselves in politics,

because they thougt that be among authorities means be one of them.

I thought that was big misconception.

I always thought that the right thing is to pretend a fool

and avoid contact with politics.

If you been with them you must doing what thay want,

if you were behind your life was much easier.

CANAL

Tigers.

There is no other barricade.

Come back to the canal, my friend.

Our turn.

Go and report to the hole/canal.

The city that could live and we needed it alive was dead.

City with old inhabitants would be stronger resistance point to sovietisation

than the city that we had after war:

ruinded and full of poor people from outside,

who was much easier to manipulate...

Moreover, in Warsaw Uprising, as a AK warriors,

died polish intelligence, all was ruinded.

"Canal" was a real experience from life of Jerzy Stefan Stawinski.

He passed through this canals and came out somewhere in Downtown.

According to that, "Canal" was very impressive, full of emotion.

Year 1956 was a real turn.

"Canal" can be showed in polish cinemas.

Moreover, it can be showed in Cannes Film Festival!

That was unimaginable before, that Poland sent to Cannes movie

of young director, auteur of only two movies.

Further, I can realised "Ash and Diamond".

Of course, I was covered by authority of Andrzejewski and his original text,

but we all know how far that movie diverged from novel (novel was pretty socrealistic).

I changed communist Szczuka character with Maciek Chelmicki

and made him the main character of the movie.

He is not protagonist of Andrzejweski's novel.

The story of Chelmicki could be mine story too,

but I had luck and I survived.

According to that fact, I know how to told story about this character.

He was MINE character.

Of course, Zbyszek Cybluski gave him irresponsbility and vitality.

He made him really magnificent.

Cybulski was waiting for this role,

but until advice of Janusz Morgerstern I didn't have certainty,

if he will be good in "Ash and Diamond".

Cybulski is the most original actor with I worked

and maybe this originality scares me

when I was thinking about role of boy from post war period.

Cybulski was not similiar to that boys,

but so that he could be both movie character from 45'

and the idol of young from 60's.

[GOOD BYE, TILL TOMORROW]

Morgerstern noted that fact and after "Ash and Diamond"

made him character in "Good Bye, Till Tomorrow"
(movie about present situation in Poland).

So, Morgersten was next individuality on polish movie scene...

New viev of cinema, life...

It's easy to censor words, because ideology is contained in words,

so we know which words should be banned.

But picture like in "Ash and Diamond" when Chelmicki died on trash...

Could they banned it, or maybe not?

For sure, but censor could read this picture in other way.

For example, [youngster raised his hand against communists, so he must died.

In new country is no place for him.

So, where is his place?

His place is on the trash of history.

Scene can go to the screen!]

On the other hand, audience comes to the movie

and see in Chelmicki "them boy", hero from AK.

They are angry that he died on trash,

that communists allowed to that.

Thank to these two points of view,

movie could worked on screen.

Censhorship had two levels:

approval of script, and permission to distribution.

For example, you wanted to made movie based on J.J.Szczepanski's "Shoes".

So, you went to the censors and you had two ways - yes or no.

If "yes" you wrote a pre-script and went to the censors again.

If they said "no" - it's end.

But if they siad "yes", we wrote complete script and went to them again.

If they said "yes", the shoots starts.

And in this moment we can see how important Movie Teams were,

because when we had it we can work without
presence of censor on movie set.

Director of Team was the one, who cared about censorship.

I remember when Jaciewicz came back from symposium in Moscow

and told us about topic of discusion.

They was talking aboout conception of script as literary work.

We didn't see problem/point in it,

but he told that communist said that, if script is literary work

director can't change anything in it,

because it will be profanation.

In this optic we don't have "censorship and politics",

but "protection of literary work".

We had luck and our authorities didn't
consider script as a literature

and we didn't have to obey the orders of external 'script' editor.

We always looks for the best solutions (not simple script-realizing)

and that fact gave lifes to our movies.

But after realisation our movies often disappeared...

often in Department of Culture or Minister of Cinematography Office.

We didn't have any infulence on what happens to the film,

after it left from Movie Team.

Movie wandered from one important person to another...

and after showings the negotiations starts.

After showings all persons sent complains to the v-ce minister of culture,

who was also minister of cinematography,

and director must go to his office.

Minister talk about problematic parts and propose solutions,

but if director don't want to cut some scenes or re-edit some parts

he sent his to the next level...

the Department of Culture.

In this place was only politics - no negotiations, no friendly people...

Moreover, if movie got permission to showings in Poland and even abroad

it didn't mean that it can be sent to the film festival...

It was really big obstacle, really big problem...

They was talking like that:

"You know, we'll sell movie, but festival - noooo...".

I had this kind of situation with "Man of Marble".

If we set start of PFSM in 1956 with realisation of "Canal"

and premiere of Konwicki's "The Last Day of Summer"

we will realise that PFSM last only for four years.

In 1960 authorities from PZPR stated that:

"Since 3 years polish cinematography is not socialistic.

Movies didn't educate people in proper way

and didn't reflect ideology of communists and country.

These movies, with few exceptions, have weak topics,
which are not ideological

and not instructive for young people..." [communists speach]

So we learned that our films from 1956-58

(time when we did our best movies)

are weak due to lack of ideological inspiration...

[It's still that communist statement that I shortened in previous verses]

That was one big misunderstanding!

It was exactly Movie Teams, who gave polish
cinematography new, fresh and exciting topics...

Topics of Munk, Konwicki, Rozewicz, Has...

Authorities form party stated that polish cinema

should work against subjectivism and estheticism.

But what was our cinema?

Why it came in to being in the world?

It had power and was spoted in Europe and World, because it was subjective!

We, subjectively, was talking about OUR reality,

about post-war Poland.

Moreover, we didn't renounce estheticism,

because we want to talk in language of world cinema.

Polish cinema at that moment looked completly difrent than after war.

The same about polish film industry...

We had 3 film studios (Lodz, Warsaw, Wroclaw),

3418 theatres in whole country and, most improtant,

viewers who expext something from our movies.

The power od PFSM layed in the fact,

that beside all censural problems

we always talked in behalf of ourselves.

We think that movies signed with our last names,

is realy OUR movies.

Polish cinema can live, because

we still have new directors with great talent.

Starting with debut of Polanski with his "Knife in the Water",

through "Hands up!" from Skolimowski - astonishing movie,

Zanussi's "The Structure of Crystal" - brand new tone of polish cinema,

Kieslowski's "Amateur",

Marczewski's "Incubus",

"Cruise" from Piwowski

and, furthermore, through movies of
Agnieszka Holland, Ryszard Bugajski and J.J. Kolski

we have constantly something new to say.

And as long as we will have something to say

and we, filmmakers, will take responsibility for what we saying

producers will not tell us about 'taste of vievers' and forcing us

to do the movies which 'fits to taste'.

PFSM refered to Romantic tradition,

because it's the strongest and the most infulential
artistic tradition for polish people.

Tradition that make from artist the voice of conscience and nation...

This is great and responsible function.

ASH AND DIAMOND

Haneczko, Bilgo, Kosobucki, Rudy, Kajtek (name/surnames/nicknames)...

We are alive !!!

PFSM was not alone and had a great support from polish critics.

One of them, Aleksander Jackiewicz, proved to be a prophet.

In 1954 he wrote about polish cinema something,
that have no confirmation in that reality.

But, after years, I see that his words

is the essence of that I want to told about PFSM:

"I hope that our film will prepare to big historic,

social and moral hearing with our reality, time and life.

I hope that it will create a new Polish Film School

which will be worthy tradition of our art"

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