“Gierek’s son predicted it for us”. The producer talks about the campaign and Koterski, touched, thanks the viewers

There was no press screening before the premiere of “Gierek”, so the critics watched the film on their own. Reviewers from various media almost unanimously emphasize that almost everything has failed here – screenplay, direction, acting, dialogues – and they almost outdo each other for more virulent reviews.

Critics hit “Gierka” like a drum

“Poor production is an example of the degradation of Polish cinema in the times of fake news and primitive PiS propaganda,” writes Jacek Cieślak from “Rzeczpospolita”, and Tomasz Raczek adds from himself, “It is like an amateur theater playing a play written by a soap opera author. , tasteless in the embrace of blindness “. Jakub Majmurek, on the website of “Krytyka polityczna”, enumerated in turn: “the script is full of holes, the dramaturgy is falling apart. The dialogues are so embarrassing that many scenes become unintentionally funny and we wonder if the authors do not shoot comedies after all”. Anyway, Andrzej Brzeziecki from “Newsweek” claims that the film “defends itself only as a comedy”.

Many people also accuse the production of propaganda overtones, the creation of the cult of personality straight from the Stalinist era and general historical distortions: “Gierek” is a hypocritical, stupid, untrue film that has nothing to do with reality. One big mistake “- assessed Marcin Zaremba, historian. On the other hand, Edward Gierek’s son, professor Adam Gierek, maintains that Michał Koterski was very faithful in his father’s character and that, in his opinion, he perfectly fulfilled the task entrusted to him. During the meeting with the audience, he emphasized:

Mr. Koterski perfectly captures my father’s emotions. The father was an emotional man, and I think these emotions were 100 percent perfectly conveyed. This movie may cause some shock, people don’t know the story

Most of the reviewers disagree with his opinion: Tomasz Raczek openly writes that Koterski is a poor actor, and others add that he did nothing but put on weight for the film. Oberwał also Ma³gorzata Ko¿uchowska (“she does not go beyond what she did in Rodzince.pl,” Barely Dying “) and Antoni Pawlicki for creating a general.

The producer of the film, Janusz Iwanowski, said in an interview with journalists that journalists treat viewers with superiority, and he knows that the audience applauds after the screening of “Gierek”. He believes his film is criticized for political reasons:

My film was withered and destroyed by critics, as if they had agreed. This is a largely politically motivated criticism. Prof. Adam Gierek, the son of the first secretary, predicted this for us.

He also claims that “Gierek” is criticized by reviewers with liberal views, because his film is supposed to “purportedly advertise statism”. Iwanowski emphasizes that he makes films for viewers, not for critics. He also adds that he does not blame anyone and that he will not “bring anyone to court”. He strongly reminds that the script was written on the basis of accounts of people who knew Edward Gierek personally.

While still on the set of the film, he said in an interview with Gazeta.pl: – We had to make some compromises and, for example, stick together three real people to represent them. This is how Marzena, played by Agnieszka Więdłocha, experiences the adventures of a certain professor, his skirmishes with the general or the secret police. It was necessary, otherwise the film would become multi-threaded, which is a common sin in Polish cinema. People want to tell so much that the main character is lost in all of this. And if there is no hero, the viewer does not get involved. There is no movie. Just like in “Procedera”, here we are following the protagonist – Edward Gierek. This is a story about him, so we gave up many things and characters. For example: we showed the moment when John Paul II was elected pope and the dissatisfaction of party comrades. But Karol Wojtyła already has his films, and Gierek does not. Therefore, we will not show the Pope – he explained.

However, the reviews did not change the fact that 100,000 people watched “Gierek” during the first weekend of showing “Gierek”. Michał Koterski wrote his thanks “I am touched by the multitude of messages I received from you and the fact that you appreciated my role because I devoted a year of my life and hard work to it” and he quoted one in the message: “Do not listen to film critics! Listen to us, people, audience. … You are playing for us … You played sensational in my opinion. It’s a beautiful role! ”