“Mother Joanna of the Angels”, “Pharaoh” and “Quo Vadis” – these are just some of Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s directorial achievements. To this day, it enjoys great esteem among cinephiles and critics who are delighted with its unconventionality, scope and courage. His fame also spread beyond the borders of Poland, and all of Italy was plagued by scandals involving him. The artist’s life was as colorful as the works he created. More texts about outstanding cinema figures can be found on the home page.
Jerzy Kawalerowicz was born on January 19, 1922 in Gwoździec nad Czeremoszem, in what is now Ukraine. Already as a child, he was exposed to multiculturalism, because apart from his father’s Armenian roots and his mother’s French, the then Eastern Borderlands were a great melting pot composed of Poles, Armenians, Russians and Ukrainians. With the outbreak of the war, his life was ruined and his entire family was forced to leave his hometown. In 1944, as it turned out, they moved to Krakow for a longer period of time, and young Kawalerowicz decided to study painting at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts. During this time, however, he also completed a Film Preparation Course, and the rest is history…
From socialist realism to “Kadru”. It’s time for a revolution
He took his first steps on the set with Leonard Buczkowski in “Forbidden Songs” from 1946, and 5 years later, he made the film “Gromada” on his own. In the first years of his activity, his work referred to the only “right” socialist realism at that time. The year 1955 turned out to be a breakthrough, when Kawalerowicz joined the artistic group “Kadr” and he himself became its artistic director. It was thanks to this experience that he broke ties with the socialist realist artistic trend and created contrary to the rules adopted at that time. This is how the famous Polish Film School was created.
The groundbreaking “Train” and international fame. The Vatican itself was outraged
In 1959, “Pociąg” was released in cinemas, the plot of which is partly based on the director’s relationship with Lucyna Winnicka. The lovers hid their feelings from everyone at all costs, and Kawalerowicz traveled to his beloved to Szczecin from Krakow itself (over 500 km of the route) many times. The film would not have been made if, during one of his journeys, the artist had not been assigned to… a bedroom compartment, where he spent many hours talking to the rightful passenger of his seat.
Although the director’s relationship with Winnicka was stormy, and Kawalerowicz himself was quite strict towards her, she was in the cast of one of his most outstanding works. “Mother Joan of the Angels” from 1961 brought him great international fame, but also condemnation from the Vatican, which considered the film scandalous. He won, among others: the prestigious Silver Palm in Cannes, and Winnicka received the Crystal Star for the best foreign actress.
Great success of “Pharaoh” and career in Italy. A scandal involving the Minister of Culture
Although Kawalerowicz was successful in his professional life, it was a time of major changes in his private life. The fruit of his relationship with Winnicka was a daughter – Agata, and the artist had to divorce his previous wife. However, the couple in love did not give up working for the family and continued their film epic, and the result of Jerzy’s directorial work was the impressive “Pharaoh” from 1966. The world was delighted with his talent again, and the work became the second Polish production in history nominated for Oscar (after “Knife in the Water” by Roman Polañski) in the foreign language film category.
A still from the film ‘Pharaoh’/TVP Kultura A still from the film ‘Pharaoh’/TVP Kultura
Poland was becoming too small for the director, so when he was offered to shoot a film in Italy, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. While working on “Magdalena”, Kawalerowicz spent his free time in the arms of the fiancée of the producer he worked with. Lisa Gastoni, cast in the main role, reciprocated the Pole’s adoration and an international scandal broke out. Their affair was revealed by the Italian press, and the producer appealed to the Polish Ministry of Culture. Kawalerowicz’s wife was sent to Italy to bring him back to the country. A few years later, his relationship with Winnicka fell apart.
Monument to a great artist. “Quo Vadis” remains record-breaking to this day
Jerzy Kawalerowicz devoted the following years to work, but this time he also found love – he started a relationship with film critic Małgorzata Dipont, with whom they initially established a bond on the sets. The director also tried to make up for lost time and improve relationships with his children and grandchildren. His last work, “Quo Vadis” from 2001, is a summary of his artistic craftsmanship, and the scale of the production continues to impress to this day. It is still the most expensive Polish film in history, with an impressive budget of over PLN 76 million.
Jerzy Kawalerowicz and Paweł Deląg on the set of ‘Quo Vadis’ Photo BARTOSZ BOBKOWSKI / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Jerzy Kawalerowicz died on December 27, 2007 in Warsaw, and during his lifetime he received many state awards, including: The Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta or the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis. At the end of his life, the director said in an interview with “Rzeczpospolita”: “Cinema was everything to me. When I worked, nothing mattered. I made 17 films and I feel as if I had lived 17 times.”
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.
