No shot in the film is random, no effect meaningless. Even the ostentatiously beautiful landscapes are more than a visual ornament. Forest paths, cormorants soaring off into the sky - the images are used to create the universe of the Roma, one in which the human is just as bound to nature as to other humans.
Trammeled by loneliness
"Poems come and go as they wish" - Papusza said to her "little brother" Ficowski in one of their chats. She wasn't aware of how talented she was and felt that poetry is simply something that just happened to happen to her, incidentally. It was one of many gifts of nature, one that had to be used.
In the story created by the Krauzes, words carry great meaning. When a young girl finds a crumpled up newspaper in the forest, an elder woman warns her not to read it because it is written by Poles and the "knowledge of spells brings with it great responsibility". Papusza discovers the controlling power of words soon enough. When her father gives her away to marry a much older man, her stepfather's brother, Papusza asks God to close her womb.Years later, her infertility turned into her curse, a malediction which stigmatises her in the Roma community.
Words, and right alongside it - art are one of the film's protagonists. Words are an expression of freedom. When the communist police arrest members of the caravan for playing without the necessary permits, locked in a constrained prison cell, the Gypsies begin to play their music. The rebellious artist's concert is one of the film's most beautiful scenes, a mini-tale about art as a manifestation of freedom sealed in one shot.
Clarity of tone
" We have many great, unknown actors, what we lack are directors who could see beyond the portfolio" Krzysztof Krauze said in an interview with Polityka magazine.
The creators of Saviour Square know how to look deeper. They are the ones who discovered Jowita Budnik, an underrated, fantastic actress, and they are the ones who cast Krystyna Feldman as the sickly, elderly, male primitivist painter Nikifor. In Papusza, one of the key roles is given to Zbigniew Waleryś, a theatrical actor who has rarely appeared on the big screen (well remember however for his part in Kawalerowicz's Quo Vadis).
As Papusza's husband in the film, Waleryś portrays a loving but cruel man, an unfulfilled artist and mythomaniac who set out to create his own legend. The Romani baron Münchhausen is full of contradictions - he can be barbarous, caring, understanding and petty. Waleryś is flawless at bringing him to life. His charisma validates every gesture and word, even the ones said in Romani, which the actor learned for the part.
Still from Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze's "Papusza", photo: Krzysztof Ptak/next-film
Janusz Morgenstern used to say that every film should have a scuff mark because imperfections are what make a work of art more real. Papusza is an exception that confirms the rule. It's a filmic crystal that lacks shortcomings, it's a poem recorded on celluloid tape. Reading into it and giving into it brings about cinematic thrills and emotions. Papusza's biographical story isn't about cheap emotions, it truly overwhelms with beauty and the whist tragedy of three intertwined biographies. Another overpowering aspect are the cinematographic painterly compositions of Krzysztof Ptak and Wojciech Staron, and the organically amalgamated music of Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz. Elżbieta Towarnicka's vibrating soprano in Papusza's Song gives the goosebumps.
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When Jerzy Ficowski sent Julian Tuwim Papusza's poems at the end of the 1940s, the celebrated poet, author of children's rhymes said: "I haven't heard such clear tone for a long time". This same sentence applies today to Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze's outstanding film. Papusza is one of Poland's most important films of the last couple of years, a film that stands out from the others in Poland, and elsewhere.
- "Papusza", Script and directing: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze. Cinematography: Krzysztof Ptak, Wojciech Staroń. Set design: Anna Wunderlich, Music: Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, Sound: Mateusz Adamczyk, Jarosław Bajdowski, Sebastian Witkowski, Editing: Krzysztof Szpetmański, Cast: Jowita Budnik, Zbigniew Waleryś, Antoni Pawlicki, Sebastian Wesołowski, Andrzej Walden. Polish premiere: 15 listopada 2013 r.
Author: Bartosz Staszczyszyn, translated by MJ 13.11.2013