“Sami swoi” is one of the most popular Polish comedies. The trials and tribulations of the feuding Kargul and Pawlak families have been drawing successive generations of Poles to their television sets for years. The 1967 film spawned a trilogy that also includes the comedies “Nie mamocnych” and “Love or Throw”. She played the main roles in Chęciński’s films Władysław Hańcza (as Władysław Kargul) and Wacław Kowalski (as Kazimierz Pawlak, and in flashbacks also as Kacper, Kazimierz’s father). Equally memorable performances were created by Ilona Kuśmierska as Jadźka, Jerzy Janeczek as Witia, and in later films Anna Dymna as the granddaughter of the main characters.
“Themselves” prequel
Last week, the media reported (service naEkranie was the first to report it) that Artur Żmijewski will be directing a prequel to “Sami swoi” based on Andrzej Mularczyk’s book “Whos I Lived Life” (premiered in 1983). For Artur Żmijewski, this will be his directorial debut in a feature film.
At this point, it is only known that the cast of the film will feature Zbigniew Zamachowski, Mirosław Backa, Anna Demna, Wojciech Malajkat, Adam Ferenci and Polina Jawzka. The first slap on the set took place in February of this year in the ethnographic park in Tokarnia near Kielce. Shooting is expected to continue until June. The premiere is scheduled for next year.
cultural phenomenon
Sami Suwi, Ni Mamuknech (1974) and Love or Throw (1977) are important films for the Polish audience, because they perfectly reflect the historical and social breakthroughs that at the same time the protagonists of these productions struggled with. First appearing in 1967, “Sami swoi” tells the not-too-distant story of post-war wanderings of Poles returning from the eastern borders to the recovered lands.
Subsequent parts captured morally important moments, such as life in the Polish countryside in the 70s, the specificity of state farms and the classic conflict – tradition or modernity, which we observed in the example of the work Children and Grandchildren of Kargol and Pollak. “Love or Throw”, which concludes the trilogy, is a satirical commentary on American Polonia, playing with stereotypes about Poles’ life in the country and in Chicago.
The sayings of the heroes entered the everyday language, like the famous phrase “And what kind of democracy is this, where everyone can have their own opinion?” , “Have you ever seen a wild boar on a string?” and “The Eternal Moment Has Come”.
Will the movie succeed?
We asked film critics if the film directed by Artur Chmiewski stands a chance of success.
– Aside from the idea of pointing to “themselves” being successful, they wouldn’t have much in common with it. Someone else will write the script, someone else will direct, and new actors will play. The reason is banal and consistent with the passage of time – most of them are no longer alive. If a lot of money is involved, you might consider holograms, as in the case of the ABBA concert, but there certainly won’t be such a budget. Will the movie succeed? It all depends on the movie itself. It is impossible to fill cinema halls only as a result of interest in the idea of continuing the series, there must also be a film achievement – says film critic Tomasz Raczyk in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl portal.
According to journalist Karolina Corwin Piotrovska, this is a risky idea. – The key to the success of “On Your Own” was, first of all, the actors and the wonderful script by Andrei Molarchik: the premiere of the film took place in 1967, and the theme of The Returned was very topical and lively, as in the post-war reconstruction. This movie hit its time. It was spontaneous, today I have the impression, let’s hope it’s wrong, it’s the result of pure calculation, – explains the film journalist and author of the “First Youth” podcast.
When asked about the contemporary meaning of Chochisky’s trilogy for the viewer, she replied: – As for the cultural phenomenon, it is a phenomenon of certain generations, not the older ones, I doubt that it is currently a cultural phenomenon of young people, unless it is Mata. It will appear in the movie – the expert confirms.
The premiere of the film is planned for 2024.
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