- Hopes of Polish cinema speak out about the controversy surrounding “themselves. The beginning”
- Polina Galizka and Weronika Homai, among others, say: about the risks but also the opportunities associated with a return to cult films
- Veronica Homai confirms that she played the role of Mania differently from the previous parts, while Paulina Gałązka played a role unknown from the previous parts. However, it allowed her to look into her family history. But not only…
- You can find more on the home page of Onet.pl
Just before the premiere of “Samych Swoich. Popocztku”, I met young actresses who, like me, still have Hancza and Kowalski fighting in their minds.
They both fully understand the first emotional reactions to the news of the new film. – Maybe it's time to learn about the culture of recycling in Poland? – asks 34-year-old Polina Galuszka as we sit at the back of Warsaw's Ateneum Theater.
– Niczajka points out in the film, recalling that Andrzej Mularczyk had a story ready for a long time, but “there was no right moment to tell it.”
Weronika Homai, born in 1993, believes that anyone who does something as beloved as “Sami Sui” must always take the risk into account: it will either succeed or it won't. The 31-year-old cleared her doubts after reading the script. – I had before me a very well-written story – poignant, yet funny and with a great character. So I said to myself: throw myself into it! – he remembers.
Polina Jawczka as Niecajka
Niecajka, Mania and the generation of broken hearts
Hunaj plays Mania, who previously had the face of Maria Zbyszewska. However, her successor wanted to build this character from scratch, in her own way.
– I definitely played her differently. I immediately noticed Manya's integrity and sophistication, and somehow I let it pass me by – she talks about working at Pawlak, which captivated her with her strong personality. Weronika also told me that something really started to attract her at the casting stage.
– This is how he evaluates his heroine. He points out that she is, after all, the richest girl in the village and knows that “the decision, one way or another, will be made by her father.” After filming, I read about the record sales “Chłopki” by Joanna Kosel-Frydryszak, and then one thing occurred to her:
Veronica Hommage as Manic
“Let it be that way”
However, Polina's encounter with Nešajka sparked a flood of memories related to her grandfather. He took photographs of the Polish countryside after the war, when it still looked like the Polish countryside of the 1920s, and not much had changed there, and technical progress only reached the countryside in the 1970s, he explains. – And when I looked at these family photos, I naturally escaped into imagination: what could have happened, what is the history of this photo? But also how my ancestors and their neighboring families lived – says Gałązka.
Playing Pawlak's unrequited love interest has helped her at least partially answer these questions and… confront the accent, too. — In the previous parts of “Themselves,” the actors used flowery speech, and there was not a single acceptable accent, he notes. That's why language consultant Ludmila Januszka came to help the introduction team. She worked extensively with us on pronunciation and supervised the group. For this reason, it was often necessary to do things, as I heard.
The 34-year-old heroine did not appear in the previous parts of the classic comedy, which was good news for her. – Specifically, because our public conversation can be so aggressive, there is more frustration than substance, especially when it comes to touching monuments. On the other hand, you have to – as Wojtek Młynarski sang – do what suits you, he says, referring to the beginning of our conversation.
I am convinced that she did “her thing” and gave a big part of her heart to Nešajka when she introduced her to me as a girl who “had to somehow reconcile internal conflicts, also caused by her dual citizenship.”
– he says, gesturing animatedly.
He also shares his thinking that preserving oneself and one's individuality is an expression of great maturity. — then and now, although today we can theoretically do anything. Social media supports this too. But here comes the second thing: We live in a society that requires us to make some compromises. We have to reconcile it somehow, as my colleague says.
They, that is, us
Honag, her on-screen rival, has also “improved” herself a lot. On the first day of filming, she had to play two obsessive roles: first, an unemployed mother after a 20-year relationship, and then transformed into a bride on her wedding night. According to Weronika, they both share great sensitivity and strength.
-For me, Manya is very fragile on the inside, and at the same time she is trying to live her life as best as she can. With the cards she received from fate. It's very sad, but on the other hand, her story with Pawlak is a love story, she thinks.
– says Paolakov, although she wonders if they will get back together today.
– In the end, I think this couple was united by a kind of feeling, certainly a connection, a desire to take care of the other person: we are there for each other, we will support each other, as the actress told me.
It was very important for her to convey Manya's feelings and bring her closer to the viewers so that she would not be just an “extra.” She wanted to know how she dealt with reality and where she found strength. – in the family? In the son? It is believed that this is interesting from the point of view of our generation. Therefore, she does not view Pawlak as a passive being, or at least tries to see that she “does as much as the times in which she lives allow.”
Playing it definitely gave me a greater understanding of my grandmother's generation, as well as my mother's generation. They both devoted themselves completely to their family. “I looked at them differently,” Weronika admits, considering that Manya may have “taught her to face the anger she carries.”
Paulina also knows something about this, she really hates double standards – which, in her opinion, is unfortunately something to be expected in the social contract. — Interestingly, I am currently working on a play on this topic at the Ateneum Theater: “Etching” by a contemporary French author. It's a tragicomedy about whether you want to be yourself or is it better to sacrifice yourself to be in a group. The 34-year-old says exclusion is the worst violence that can happen to anyone.
“Why should I look at others?”
When she entered the world of cinema a decade ago, she often suffered from objectification.
– she says frankly, adding that although things are not easy for men either, we – women – still have to break the glass ceiling. Fortunately, Gałązka did not experience any psychological violence or border crossing on set, but she remembers well that before the #MeToo campaign, reporting a problem could even lead to being fired.
When asked if anyone had ever described her as difficult to work with, she replied “probably the opposite” because she tries to do it 100%. His duties: “Why should I care about others? I accept everything as it is. In this profession, you must have the sensitivity of a butterfly and the skin of a rhinoceros, as they said at school in Lodz.”
Polina and Weronika at the premiere of the film “Alone. The Beginning”
The actress loves compassion and sensitivity, which is perhaps not particularly appreciated in today's world. On the other hand, she is sure that this is the way to build more satisfying relationships.
– He says.
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