Małgorzata Braunek is an unforgettable cinema and theater actress whose joy in life was contagious, and her roles still arouse the applause of subsequent generations of viewers. Apart from acting, she was head over heels in love with Buddhism, meditation and teaching Zen, giving her surroundings a sense of great harmony. Unfortunately, she passed away much too soon. You will find more interesting texts on the home page.
Małgorzata Braunek was born on January 30, 1947 and from childhood she associated her future with acting. Therefore, it was natural to choose studies in this field. In 1969, she graduated from the State Theater School in Warsaw, but she made her cinema debut before the end of her education. Thanks to “Skok” by Kazimierz Kutz, accompanied by Rafał Olbrychski and Marian Opani, the country became aware of her acting talent.
The turn of the 1960s and 1970s was the time when Braunek’s career flourished thanks to his work with Andrzej Wajda. In “Hunting for Flies” from 1969, she played a young Polish studies student Irena, and a year later she starred in “Landscape after battle” based on Tadeusz Borowski’s camp stories. The following years also brought performances on the stage of the National Theater in Warsaw, and the most important film roles were yet to come.
Great fame thanks to “The Deluge”. Another actress was selected
Małgorzata Braunek became a great star with the role of Oleńka Billewiczówna in “The Deluge” directed by Jerzy Hoffman, where she again appeared alongside Olbrychski (played by Andrzej Kmicic), and the fate of their turbulent love in the film ignited all viewers on the occasion of the premiere in 1974. Interestingly, both she and the actor were not initially chosen for the main roles. It was then predicted that Oleńka would be played by Barbara Brylska, and the choice of the actress for Henryk Sienkiewicz’s work provoked a nationwide discussion. As history has shown, it was a bull’s-eye.
As Braunek recalled years later during an interview with Rzeczpospolita: “I decided to act against the grain of critical voices. I had no idea that I was entering a film that would become a myth.” And the success of “The Deluge” turned out to be huge, because it attracted over 27 million viewers in cinemas and received numerous awards, including: Golden Lions at the Polish Feature Film Festival and an Oscar nomination in the foreign language film category.
The actress established her position by playing Izabela Łęcka in the series “The Doll” directed by Aleksander Bera. In fact, she played the role of the cold-blooded and charming heroine of Bolesław Prus’s novel brilliantly.
Łęcka was my favorite role because it was the most mature. It didn’t cause me any unnecessary excitement. Fortunately, the character of an aristocrat was not a national treasure, which gave me the comfort of a more free interpretation of the role. Of course, I saw Has’s film, but director Ryś Ber and I knew that we wanted to create our version of Izabela Łęcka.
– Braunek confessed in a conversation with Artur Cieślar in the book “Apple tree in the garden, the sea is close”.
Breaking up with acting and searching for yourself. Fascination with the East
Paradoxically, after this performance, the actress felt the need to break away from her artistic profession. Braunek confessed then that she no longer felt as comfortable on stage and in front of the screen as before, and the stage fright was unbearable at that time. The great fame that began to overwhelm her certainly didn’t help her. During this time, she focused on family life and exploring the secrets of Eastern philosophy and self-discovery, which resulted in teaching Zen. The love for Asian culture was instilled in her by her third husband, Andrzej Krajewski. Braunek also became interested in hippie movements.
She delighted in “Tulips”. Showered with awards
Her great return to the screen took place in 1994, when she started appearing in television shows, and at the end of the previous millennium she even appeared in one of the episodes of the cult “13th Precinct” and then there was another break in acting. However, when she returned in “Tulips” directed by Jacek Borcuch (2004), she received a lot of praise, and the drama turned out to be a great artistic success. Jan Nowicki himself, who appeared alongside her, gushed over her role. In the last years of her life, she also played in the series “Dom nad rozlewiskiem”.
Małgorzata Braunek died on June 23, 2014, and the cause of death was ovarian cancer. We will remember her for her great empathy towards other people, and her concern for tolerance and mutual understanding accompanied her throughout her life. We lost not only an exceptional actress, but above all a wonderful person.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
