Mateusz Kościukiewicz in Kordian Piwowarski's "Baczyński", photo: www.armandurbaniak.pl/Artrama
Baczyński is known as the most famous representative of The Generation of Columbuses. The young people from this generation were born into a free Poland (which had regained independence in 1918) and had their adolescence interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. He published his first poem in 1936, at the age of 15. After 1939, his artistic vision expressed the tragedy of the individual. An active member of the Home Army, Baczyński became the most known poet of fighting Warsaw. His underground name was Jan Bugaj. His most known clandestine publications are Wiersze wybrane / Selected Poems ( 1942), Arkusz poetycki / Poetical Quire (1944), and the posthumously published Spiew z pozogi / Song from the Conflagration (1947) and the Utwory zebrane / Collected Works (1970). With the goal of liberating Warsaw from Nazi occupation, Baczyński took part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 which ended in the defeat of the the Polish resistance, and during which Baczyński died.
In his article for culture.pl Bartosz Staszczyszyn comments that Kordian Piwowarski’s film is a mix of genres. "Caught somewhere mid-way between a biography and an essay about poetry, between a documentary about World War II and a study about youth and courage of heart." In the film , the poet is portrayed as torn between loyalty to the spirit of his father and the love to his mother. The young man’s memories push him to heroic acts, and his possessive mother tries to save his life.
Baczyński, the film blends a video-clip style, with ‘talking heads’ characteristic of documentaries, stages scenes, stylised war-time images and black and white photographs from the album Generations. Staszczyszyn comments,
In an attempt to talk about life and the process of creating, war and youth, Piwowarski missed his chance to make an interesting psychological portrait. His film is an incomplete anthology of Baczyński’s poems and scenes from his life that lacks emotions. Sewing together a costume for the role of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, the creators lose sight of the real man.
The film comes to Polish cinemas on the 15th of March 2013.
- Baczyński. Script, directing and editing: Kordian Piwowarski. Cinematography: Piotr Niemyjski. Music: Bartosz Hajdecki. Set design: Anna Wunderlich, costumes: Anna Banasiak, Agata Przybył. Sound: Leszek Freund, Kacper Habisiak, Marcin Kasiński. Cast: Mateusz Kościukiewicz (Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński), Katarzyna Zawadzka (Barbara Drapczyńska), Ewa Telega (Stefania Baczyńska, Krzysztof’s mother), Marta Klubowicz (Basia’s mother), Artur Bachański (Kazimierz Wyka), Iga Banasiak (Aniela Kmita), Marianna Bukowska, Joachim Ciecierski (member of the Gestapo), Daniel Dobkowski (Lolek), Jan Dowjat (Tadeusz Gajcy), Tomasz Gizelski ("Długi"), Józef Grzymała (Bogdan Deczkowski), Mateusz Fedorczyk (Tytus), Krzysztof Hanke (interpreter), Łukasz Kominek (Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz), Mariusz Kostecki (Basia’s father), Damian Kowalski (boy), Tomasz Leszczyński (Jerzy Andrzejewski), Marcin Macenowicz ("Świst"), Marzena Nieżurawska, Krzysztof Olszewski, Piotr Prędota (Krzysztof’s friend), Adrian Raciborski ("Kołczan"), Lech Sołuba (professor).
Sources: Bartosz Staszczyszyn's article for culture.pl, Warsaw uprising, webarchive, InfoPoland
Editor: MJ