31.
01.
2024.
Department
Direction
Direction
Yesterday, an extraordinary guest, one of the most famous graduates, an outstanding director - Krzysztof Zanussi – was a special guest of the acting students’ class conducted by Łukasz Maciejewski.
Łukasz Maciejewski describes the director's visit: "It was a fascinating meeting. Krzysztof Zanussi returning to his university. He recalls the school with sarcasm, but - as was apparent yesterday - also with emotion.”
Krzysztof Zanussi: "I was expelled from this university twice. First, as a disobedient student, then as a lecturer. Failures hardened me. From the very beginning, I felt that I was a bit different and that I didn't really fit in. Both socially and substantively. It made me stronger too.”
What did he talk about?
About the time of his studies - with the still fresh memory of Polański, the recent memory of Skolimowski, and Agnieszka Osiecka, who studied directing at that time. And since it was a meeting with young actors, Krzysztof Zanussi talked - passionately - about his acting discoveries, Maja Komorowska, Christopher Waltz and (if we are talking about film) Zbigniew Zapasiewicz.
One story flowed into the next. We heard about American actors acting in Mrożek’s plays with passion and working as professional disease simulators in hospitals and about the pre-war division into romantic actors and character actors, which still exists today.
About the director's dilemmas: "Maja Komorowska performed too well in FAMILY LIFE. Although it was fascinating, I had to cut out her best scene because she covered up the others, you must remember about that too.”
About Daniel Olbrychski impersonating Zanussi himself in the same film.
About the great Christine Barrault (who starred in PARADIGMA) fighting with the director about how to play a lie accurately, how to do it.
We also watched fragments of films and Television Theatre plays - extensive fragments of the AUDITIONS, with Zapasiewicz improvising in a fascinating way, and a group of then debutants who were lost in this task - Marta Zięba, Maciej Zakościelny, Magdalena Walach and Wojciech Mecwaldowski. We also saw an episode of Kinga Preis in UNWRITTEN LAW, in which this then young actress, luckily sensed that she should play against the expected emotion (a wife finding out about her husband's betrayal). Only then does the film acting really work.
"The viewer must believe in behaviour, not words," Zanussi said. "Gesture has the advantage."
Łukasz Maciejewski: “After the class, students came up to me - 'Professor, I feel like working again. I will never forget this meeting."
photos Mikołaj Zacharow
Krzysztof Zanussi: "I was expelled from this university twice. First, as a disobedient student, then as a lecturer. Failures hardened me. From the very beginning, I felt that I was a bit different and that I didn't really fit in. Both socially and substantively. It made me stronger too.”
What did he talk about?
About the time of his studies - with the still fresh memory of Polański, the recent memory of Skolimowski, and Agnieszka Osiecka, who studied directing at that time. And since it was a meeting with young actors, Krzysztof Zanussi talked - passionately - about his acting discoveries, Maja Komorowska, Christopher Waltz and (if we are talking about film) Zbigniew Zapasiewicz.
One story flowed into the next. We heard about American actors acting in Mrożek’s plays with passion and working as professional disease simulators in hospitals and about the pre-war division into romantic actors and character actors, which still exists today.
About the director's dilemmas: "Maja Komorowska performed too well in FAMILY LIFE. Although it was fascinating, I had to cut out her best scene because she covered up the others, you must remember about that too.”
About Daniel Olbrychski impersonating Zanussi himself in the same film.
About the great Christine Barrault (who starred in PARADIGMA) fighting with the director about how to play a lie accurately, how to do it.
We also watched fragments of films and Television Theatre plays - extensive fragments of the AUDITIONS, with Zapasiewicz improvising in a fascinating way, and a group of then debutants who were lost in this task - Marta Zięba, Maciej Zakościelny, Magdalena Walach and Wojciech Mecwaldowski. We also saw an episode of Kinga Preis in UNWRITTEN LAW, in which this then young actress, luckily sensed that she should play against the expected emotion (a wife finding out about her husband's betrayal). Only then does the film acting really work.
"The viewer must believe in behaviour, not words," Zanussi said. "Gesture has the advantage."
Łukasz Maciejewski: “After the class, students came up to me - 'Professor, I feel like working again. I will never forget this meeting."
photos Mikołaj Zacharow