“Sami swoi”: Chêciñski used to say that making a comedy is “murder”. He didn’t want to make more parts

Another, fourth part of the history of the Karguls and Pawlaks is being created. Artur Żmijewski was behind the camera, and the film is to tell about the events from before the war and the plot we got to know in the film “Sami swoi”. The story of the feud between the Pawlak and Kargul families was watched by millions of Poles. The huge success just after the premiere made him direct two more, “Nie mamocnych” in 1974, and in 1977 – “Love or Throw”. For a long time, however, he tried to avoid returning to “Themselves” and defended himself against filming further stories. Why?

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Shooting a comedy was a “murder” for Chęciński. “You have to constantly invent, control the situation”

In 2017, Chęciński himself, after receiving the Golden Eagle for life achievements, admitted that comedy is very hard to create. – In a comedy you have to constantly invent, control the situation, make sure that there is a moment with a shadow of a smile here, an inner smile there, so that later it accumulates with a joke that you want to tell – he emphasized in an interview with . As he noted, working on a comedy film reminded him of “must”.

Sylwester Chęciński did not intend to make a comedy. All because of a painful lesson in college

Chęciński himself recalled that initially he did not intend to make comedic films. – My encounter with comedy actually started very sadly. In the fourth year of study, each student had to shoot a four-minute film in a genre of their choice. Of course, because I thought at the time that I was very witty and had a great sense of humor, I made a comedy. After the premiere, it turned out that it was actually a bloody drama, which almost ended my studies prematurely. It was a very painful lesson for me – years later.

“Sami swoi”: Chęciński did not feel like shooting the next parts. “I didn’t really want to”

“Mordęga” and unpleasant experiences from his studies did not make him give up this genre forever. Already six years after his directorial debut, i.e. the film “The Story of Yellow Ciżemki”, he made “the Polish comedy of all time”. “” hit theaters in 1967. Throughout his life, Chęciński had a special fondness for the characters of Kargul and Pawlak, which he created on the screen. “I have a very warm relationship with them. All the more so because it seems to me that I got the right choice of actors – Chęciński in 1975 on the air of Polish Radio. Today, we cannot imagine another Kargul and Pawlak than Władysław Hańcza and Wacław Kowalski. Even though Kargul speaks with the voice of Bolesław Płotnicki, Hańcza could not cope with the characteristic singing.

“Sami swoi” was a huge success, so Chęciński was quickly persuaded to create another part. – I didn’t really want to, because I knew that the next installment would not be so funny – the director. He defended himself for almost seven years, but finally gave in to persuasion. The last attempt to avoid the “murder” was to request permission to shoot the third part, which was to take place in the United States. He also wanted to make his dream of traveling abroad come true. Chęciński hoped that the huge production costs would discourage those who needed it. It failed, and the director made Nie ma mocnych (premiere in 1974) and Love or Throw (premiere in 1977). – If I had to assess where my comedies come from, I would say that it is out of fear. For my fear that they won’t be funny and that people won’t approve of them – Chęciński admitted in 1975.