Andrzej Wajda on ‘Katyn’
I was only able to make Katyn after the fall of the Polish People’s Republic. After 44 years of lies, when there was only one Soviet truth: that the Katyn massacre was committed by the Germans. I dedicate this film to my father, Captain Jakub Wajda of the 72nd Infantry Regiment in Radom, and my mother Aniela. My father was a victim of the Katyn massacre, my mother was a victim of the Katyn lie, and until the end of her life, until 1950, she believed that my father would return from the war, because telegrams from Switzerland said he was missing and could therefore be found and returned.
When I started writing the script, I had two sources: the diaries of women who waited for their husbands, and the crime documents. In the diaries, I found a scene with a Russian officer trying to save the wife of a Polish colleague, an officer murdered in Katyn. There was one righteous Soviet officer who stood up against all the forces of evil, and I believe I had a duty to show this scene in my film.
Stalin’s crime was aimed not only at the Polish state, but above all at the Polish intelligentsia. Officers, like my father, gave their lives at the most difficult moment, when the war began. I remember how much I needed my father when I was 13 and taking my first steps in life. I had to take them alone. I had to make my own decisions about who I was, what I was to do, where I was to go.
There was a moment in my life when I received a script by Solzhenitsyn, who had long since lived in America, titled ‘Tanks Know the Truth’. This script seemed wonderful to me, and precisely the kind I could produce. But I could only make this film in the West, beyond the reach of the Soviet Union. After this film, I would never be able to return to my homeland. And it’s not like I knew that one day Poland would regain its freedom and every artist would be able to work wherever they pleased. I thought that if I made a film based on Solzhenitsyn, I would be making commercial films for the rest of my life. Because what else could I have made in the West, unfamiliar with this world and navigating it without a compass, like someone raised and created in a completely different system, in a completely different country, and in a completely different reality?
Natalia Gorbanevskaya, while in exile, wrote a review of my film titled ‘Truth in the Eyes of the Wheel’. And she gave me the motto from Khlebnikov: ‘Who will tell, who will believe in mountains of corpses at dawn?’ And then she asked – how are these mountains of corpses different from those buried near every Soviet regional prison? Both became examples not so much of deafening silence as of deafening lies.
My film is primarily about lies. But also about memory.
Interview with Andrzej Wajda transcribed from materials prepared by Andrzej Wolski for the film Wajda: A Cinematic Lecture (2016), wajda.pl
Making this movie, Katyn … have you always known you’d do it, or has it gradually grown within you? When did you decide on it?
During the time when it was impossible for such a movie to be made in Poland, that is until 1989, I didn’t think about it at all. That chance came only with the freedom we gained in 1989. But another difficulty arose, and it wasn’t my lack of enthusiasm, or courage to make this movie. It’s just that it was very difficult to decide what it should be about. Because Katyn is two things: the crime and the lie. Should I make a movie about the crime, or the lie?
If it’s about the crime, then it has to take place on the other side, from the moment the Soviet Army rounds up our officers. And even plain soldiers. They pick them out and lead them into the camp. One of the camps. Which one? Kozielsk, because the Katyn genocide is related to that camp.
Or should I make a movie about how the Katyn lie was crafted after the war? Because that’s another matter.
In short, the question was whether to talk about my father, who was killed with the officers, murdered along with the others captured by the Soviet Army, or about my mother. I only knew my father’s story from other people’s descriptions, and conversations with Jozef Czapski, who was the only one I knew to witness this event. Or should I talk about my mother, whom I watched wither and fade away since 1945, when she realised he wasn’t coming home. For a time she had hope, since there was no evidence. Some died, but maybe others would come home.
So: what should I decide on? I reached the conclusion that I have to make a movie about the crime, and the lie. And here I encountered another obstacle, namely: what literature to draw from? As you know, most of my movies are based on literary works. How so? I can’t answer that question. How is it that literature… that the novel, the short story, have completely omitted this subject. I could only count on a script custom-made for the movie. But this process turned out to be difficult.
There were several attempts to write it, right?
There were many attempts. The problem was that most of the writers with whom I had the honour of working throughout my life have passed. And turning to the young ones entailed bringing in their perspective on these events, rather than mine. And I wanted to tell my story. That’s probably why this took so long, over a dozen years. It just had to take time. It had to be the right moment; I’m counting since 1989, of course.
What did you feel, once you decided to start shooting, build sets and create these images, in many cases probably pulling them straight out of your imagination, your heart, your memory. What emotions accompanied you?
Emotions were a factor throughout the decision-making process, as I discarded some solutions in favour of new ones. Once I started making the movie, having decided on its shape, and on the actors, I turned into a regular film director who, with all the harshness, and all the experience gained throughout his long life, has to make another Polish Film School movie.
Interview by Grazyna Torbicka, production notes
Katyn
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Production Companies: Studio Filmowe Akson, Telewizja Polska, Telekomunikacja Polska
Co-production: Telewizja Polska S.A. Agencja Filmowa
Co-funded by: Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej
Executive Producer (Akson Studio): Katarzyna Fukacz-Cebula
Producer (Akson Studio): Michal Kwiecinski
Co-producers: Dariusz Wieromiejczyk, Dominique Lesage, Agnieszka Odorowicz
Unit Manager: Jerzy Mizak
Production Manager: Kamil Przelecki
Production Supervisor: Malgorzata Fogel-Gabrys
Post-production Supervisor: Monika Lang
2nd Unit Directors: Ewa Brodzka, Marek Cydorowicz
1st Assistant Director: Agnieszka Glinska
2nd Assistant Directors: Kordian Piwowarski, Michal Pilat, Piotr Wozniak
Script Supervisors: Anna Zenowicz, Kamilla Choloniewska
Casting: Ewa Brodzka
Screenplay: Andrzej Wajda, Wladyslaw Pasikowski, Przemyslaw Nowakowski
Script Collaborators: Joanna Olczak-Ronikier, Krzystof Bizio, Jacek Bromski, Feliks Falk, Grzegorz Loszewski, Wojciech Tomczyk, Agnieszka Lipiec-Wròblewska
Based on the novel ‘Post Mortem’ by: Andrzej Mularczyk
Director of Photography: Pawel Edelman
1939 Sequence Photography: Marek Rajca
Camera Operators: Jeremi Prokopowicz, Piotr Sobocinski Jr, Krzysztof Mieszkowski
Steadicam Operator: Andrzej Glacel
Stills Photography: Piotr Bujnowicz, Maciej Laprus, Monika Skrzypczak, Mateusz Wajda
Visual Effects: Platige Image
Visual Effects Supervisor: Jaroslaw Sawko
Editors: Milenia Fiedler, Rafal Listopad
On-line Editor: Jacek Koltunowicz
Art Director: Magdalena Dipont
Set Designer: Wieslawa Chojkowska
Costume Designer: Magdalena Biedrzycka
Uniforms and Militaria: Andrzej Szenajch
Make-up: Waldemar Pokromski, Tomasz Matraszek
Music: Krzysztof Penderecki
Additional Music: Bartolomiej Gliniak
Music Performed by: Orkiestry Filharmonii Narodowej
Choir: Chór Meski Filharmonii Narodowej
Music Supervisor: Marta Broczkowska
Music Editors: Jacek Hamela, Katarzyna Dzida-Hamela
Music Recording: Tadeusz Mieczkowski
Music Consultant to Krzysztof Penderecki: Stanislaw Radwan
Sound Recording: Jacek Hamela, Leszek Freund, Marek Wronko
Sound Editor: Jacek Hamela
Sound Effects: Henryk Zastrozny, Dariusz Zastrozny
Sound Effects Editor: Michal Krzyszkowski
Stunt Co-ordinator: Ryszard Janikowski
Historical Consultant: Stanislaw M. Jankowski
Cast
Andrzej Chyra (Jerzy, Lieutenant of 8th Uhlan regiment)
Maja Ostaszewska (Anna, Captain’s wife)
Artur Zmijewski (Andrzej, Captain of 8th Uhlan regiment)
Danuta Stenka (general’s wife)
Jan Englert (general)
Magdalena Cielecka (Agnieszka, Lieutenant pilot’s sister)
Agnieszka Glinska (Irena, Lieutenant pilot’s sister)
Pawel Malaszynski (Lieutenant pilot, engineer)
Maja Komorowska (Maria, Captain’s mother)
Wladyslaw Kowalski (Jan, Captain’s father)
Antoni Pawlicki (Anna’s nephew Tadeusz, ‘Tur’)
Agnieszka Kawiorska (Ewa)
Sergey Garmash (Russian officer)
Joachim Paul Assböck (Müller)
Waldemar Barwinski (suicide officer)
Sebastian Bezzel (battalion propaganda officer)
Jacek Braciak (Klin)
Stanislaw Brudny (refugee)
Stanislawa Celinska (Stasia)
Leon Charewicz (magistrate)
Waldemar Czyszak (stone-cutter)
Alicja Dabrowska (actress)
Oleh Drach (officer)
Aleksander Fabisiak (school teacher)
Wiktoria Gasiewska (Weronika ‘Nika’, Captain’s daughter)
Krzysztof Globisz (professor of chemistry)
Krzysztof Kolberger (priest)
Zbigniew Kozlowski (militiaman)
Rafal Kronenberger (adjutant general)
Roman Leus (agitator)
Janusz Lagodzinski (WP officer)
Olgierd Lukaszewicz (bandsman)
Maria Maj (voice of Wasilewska (radio))
Tomasz Miedzik (sheriff)
Jozef Mika (interpreter)
Andrzej Pieczynski (German officer)
Leszek Piskorz (confessional priest)
Waldemar Pokromski (barber)
Dariusz Poleszak (German officer)
Jakub Przebindowski (curate)
Anna Radwan (Elzbieta, Anna’s sister-in-law)
Jacek Romanowski (UJ rector)
Poland 2007
122 mins
Digital 4K
The screening on Tue 10 Mar will include a pre-recorded introduction by film critic Carmen Gray
With thanks to
Marlena Łukasiak, Michał Oleszczyk, Jędrzej Sabliński
Presented with the ICA and Ciné Lumière, who will also be hosting screenings of Wajda’s works in February and March
SIGHT AND SOUND
Never miss an issue with Sight and Sound, the BFI’s internationally renowned film magazine. Subscribe from just £25*
*Price based on a 6-month print subscription (UK only). More info: sightandsoundsubs.bfi.org.uk
BFI SOUTHBANK
Welcome to the home of great film and TV, with three cinemas and a studio, a world-class library, regular exhibitions and a pioneering Mediatheque with 1000s of free titles for you to explore. Browse special-edition merchandise in the BFI Shop.We're also pleased to offer you a unique new space, the BFI Riverfront – with unrivalled riverside views of Waterloo Bridge and beyond, a delicious seasonal menu, plus a stylish balcony bar for cocktails or special events. Come and enjoy a pre-cinema dinner or a drink on the balcony as the sun goes down.
BECOME A BFI MEMBER
Enjoy a great package of film benefits including priority booking at BFI Southbank and BFI Festivals. Join today at bfi.org.uk/join
BFI PLAYER
We are always open online on BFI Player where you can watch the best new, cult & classic cinema on demand. Showcasing hand-picked landmark British and independent titles, films are available to watch in three distinct ways: Subscription, Rentals & Free to view.
See something different today on player.bfi.org.uk
Join the BFI mailing list for regular programme updates. Not yet registered? Create a new account at www.bfi.org.uk/signup
Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email