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NEXT STORY

'I don't want to summarise my life'

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Where is the world going?
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
Views Duration
221. Where is the world going? 132 02:23
222. 'I don't want to summarise my life' 110 04:04
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Czy świat idzie w dobrą stronę, czy świat nagle... tak jak chcą przedstawić to pesymiści, którzy lepiej niż ja rozumieją i znają się, czego się boją? Boją się, że po prostu nastąpił za duży kontrast pomiędzy krajami cywilizowanymi i resztą świata. Że reszta świata będzie nieustannie buntować się, a dzisiaj, mając środki, mając możliwości, takie jakie mają terroryści, będzie temu światu cywilizowanemu zagrażać. To jest prawda. No ale może świat cywilizowany też zda sobie sprawę, że musi się zjednoczyć przeciwko tamtej sile, że może nie jest ta konfrontacja tylko militarna, że może właśnie trzeba stworzyć zupełnie inną – to co coraz więcej świadomych i rozsądnych ludzi mówi – no tę przepaść trzeba zasypać za pomocą kultury, cywilizacji. Trzeba dać szansę tamtym ludziom, żeby żyli inaczej. Może to będzie trwało długo, ale dlaczego myśleć, że to się musi skończyć katastrofą? Jeżeli mnie w moim życiu spotkało i zakończenie wojny, a wydawało się, że Niemcy zwyciężą i nigdy nie wyjdziemy, że tak powiem, spod ich żelaznej ręki. Potem nagle się okazało, że Związek Radziecki, który był niezniszczalny i czymś takim, co miało trwać wiecznie, nagle upadł na naszych oczach i to w taki sposób jakby bezkonfliktowy, czegośmy nigdy... Braliśmy pod uwagę, że kiedyś może się coś takiego zdarzyć, ale do tego potrzebna była trzecia wojna światowa. No a trzecia wojna światowa zagroziłaby przede wszystkim nam, pomiędzy tymi dwoma kolosami też. A przedtem jeszcze moi rodzice dożyli odbudowy Polski i po 1918 roku tego, że dwadzieścia lat Polska była znowu wolnym krajem decydującym o sobie. Dlaczego mam być pesymistą? Dlaczego mam myśleć źle? A jeżeli tak myślę, to dlaczego dalej mam nie brać udziału w tym wszystkim, co się dzieje w najrozmaitszy sposób?

Is the world going in the right direction, will the world suddenly... the way the pessimists, who understand and know better than I do what there is to fear, want to present it? They fear that too great a difference has appeared between the civilized nations and the rest of the world, that the rest of the world will be constantly rebelling and that while it has the means that terrorists have, it will be a constant threat to the civilised world. This is true. But perhaps the civilised world will also realise that it has to unite against that other force, that perhaps it's not just a military confrontation but that there needs to be a different one, which is something more and more reasonable people are saying, that this gulf needs to be filled with the help of culture, civilisation. We need to give those other people the opportunity to live differently. This may take a long time, but why should we think that it will end in catastrophe? If in my life-time I've witnessed the end of the war when everyone imagined that the Germans would triumph and that we would never be freed from their iron grip. After that, it turned out that the Soviet Union, which was indestructible and was meant to last forever suddenly collapsed before our eyes without a fight, which we had never... We had considered that such an event might one day occur but only if there was a third world war. A third world war would have been a threat above all to us, wedged between these two colossal powers. Before this, my parents had lived to see Poland rebuilt and in '18 becoming a free, autonomous land once more for 20 years. Why should I be a pessimist, why should I think badly? And even if I do think that way, why shouldn't I take part in the things that are happening, in various ways?

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) was a towering presence in Polish cinema for six decades. His films, showing the horror of the German occupation of Poland, won awards at Cannes and established his reputation as both story-teller and commentator on Poland's turbulent history. As well as his impressive career in TV and film, he also served on the national Senate from 1989-91.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: Germans, Soviet Union

Duration: 2 minutes, 23 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008