Posted on 10/05/2006 10:40:11 AM PDT by lizol
Wajda on Katyn
Poland’s renowned film director Andrzej Wajda has begun work on a film about the Katyn massacre of Polish officers by the Stalinist NKVD secret services in 1943.
05.10.06
After the discovery of the mass graves Soviet Russia denied any responsibility attributing the killings of 1943 to Nazi Germany but there was too much evidence pointing to Soviet guilt. Over the years of the communist rule in Poland the Katyn issue had been covered with a cloth of silence.
With the coming of the end of 1989 the issue had been acknowledged by Russia with president Gorbachov admitting the NKVD responsibility of the crime and later in 1992 president Yeltsin’s envoy handing over Katyn documents to president Lech Walesa. But no expected thaw came. Moscow, up to this day denies to admit it was an act of genocide and the Katyn massacre remains a very thorny subject in Polish Russian relations, while for Poland it is one of the most tragic chapters in history.
Over 20 thousand Polish officers and intelligentsia brutally killed with shots in the back of the head, and years of uncertainty for their families as to their fate. Wajda’s film is entitled “Post Mortem the Katyn tale” and it is a story of the other Katyn victims- the women who had to live after the death of their husbands, fathers and sons. Andrzej Wajda’s decision to undertake such painful subject is also a personal one. His father was among those killed in Katyn, and th3e director says it will be a film also about his mother who waited for his father Jakub Wajda to come back home
”It is film about women who are the victims of this crime4. They wait, they have hope, but the passage of time takes the hope away. If the war deprived the 32 million Polish nations of 6 million people then it is clear that in almost every household there was someone waiting for someone who did not come back. This is the atmosphere, the mood that I want to convey…”
In the film, Wajda underlined the Katyn massacre will be a starting point to recount the horrors, the uncertainty, and the fear the families had to endure. The lack of facts and truth about the life or death of their beloved, since for so many years truth was denied to the families of the Katyn victims.
”This lie concerns so many people, so many families and is part of their lives. The atrocious crime is a scene, it is not the main subject, but something which has united all these people in their hatred, love, expectancy and hope…..”
Andrzej Mularczyk the screen play writer says that the film begins in present day times, but it is in fact a huge retrospective which shows how history affects certain decisions, that one is often a victim of historic turns and that one can never turn away from history
”The film shows that neither a person nor a society can live without references to history, that present day events are always related to the past. This film shows that looking ahead to the future is impossible without paying respects to those who are gone.”
Making films about important historic events is vital says Andrzej Wajda and it does not matter that initially the events may seem distant to the rest of the world. He gave the example of his film Canal about the Warsaw Uprising, which seemingly was to appeal only to a selected group of people but then has been seen by millions of people, as were his Man of Iron and Man of Marble. Wajda considers that it is worth doing films, which touch -us Poles, but then they also move the rest of the world.
Andrzej Mularczyk says that also in Post Mortem the issues shown are universal, the feelings touched apply to people the world over. The questions asked are universal
”It is a vital question of long and how much can one be faithful to another person. What are the boundaries, which suddenly make this feeling dangerous, destructive? These are the questions that I pose before the viewers of Andrzej Wajda’s film.”
Wajda’s film features some of the greatest names of the Polish film scene, both from the old and young generation. Maja Ostaszewska, a young promising actress is one of the major figures in the film- a wife who refuses to acknowledge that her husband is dead and will never be coming home
”I am there throughout the whole film, the whole story. It is a deep, moving part of a woman who has to tread on a long and difficult path of understanding, acceptance that cannot be attained. It is a path which battles with time, but the passage of time brings no consolation, no change just emptiness”.
Works on Post Mortem began on October 3rd; the film which is a Polish French co-production will be shot entirely in Poland. The scenes of the shooting are kept secret since the director does not want journalists on the scene. Wajda admits is one of the most difficult films and most personal films in his career. The film personalities will have no surnames, just names and ranks incase of men. The film is due to appear in cinemas in Poland in fall next year.
I hope they make an English version.
I saw several Wajda movies ("Diamonds and Ashes", Kanal). I think Wajda is very intelligent filmmaker who directed and produced a number of great movies. I hope his latest project will be a big success and watching his movie will be a moving experience. The Katyn mass execution is a terrible chapter in the history of Russian/Soviet-Polish relations, but I hope this movie will help to shed more light on this terrible event which is a prerequisite for reconciliation between Russia and Poland that I am sure will happen sooner rather than later.
By any chance, do you know if any Russian or Ukrainian actors participate in this movie ?
They will, definitely.
I don't know about Russian or Ukrainian actors, but the list of the Polish ones, who'll play in this movie is impressing.
For those, who know Polish cinema:
Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Zmijewski, Maja Komorowska, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Wiktoria Gosiewska, Anna Radwan, Andrzej Chyra, Danuta Stenka, Stanis³awa Celinska, Agnieszka Glinska, Magdalena Cielecka, Pawe³ Ma³aszynski, Antoni Pawlicki, Alicja Dabrowska, Dorota Segda, Krzysztof Globisz, Krzysztof Kolberger, Marek Kondrat.
Creme de la creme.
Ironically the best Polish movies were made in commie times.
Thanks for the list. I recognize some names but not all.
This is the link to Katyn memorial in Smolensk in 3 languages (Polish, Russian and English).
http://admin.smolensk.ru/history/katyn/
BTW, the site I posted says that Katyn forest is estimated burial ground of 4,000 Polish Officers and 10,000 Soviet Citizens executed by Soviet Regime.
I hope not.
That's not going to be a sci-fi horror. :-)))
"Ironically the best Polish movies were made in commie times"
Nothing unusual. Often the best work of art come at the time of adversity and historical calamity (war, repression) when all the inner intellectual and spiritual resources of individuals and groups are mobilized to overcome it and survive.
Yeah, and the biggest baby boom in Poland was also in early 80's, under the communist martial law.
You know - curfew, nothing interesting on TV, etc. :-)))
Exactly -:))) !
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