Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz’s film debut is the story of one family and Kazik, a child born in a small town in 1977. The boy is born on the day of the Poland–Portugal match in Chorzów, in which Deyna, a footballer for rival Legia Warszawa, scores the goal that sends Poland to the World Cup.
After his winning shot, the footballer leaves the pitch not in glory, but booed by the fans from Chorzów. “When I received Radosław Paczocha’s novella, on which I based the screenplay, I checked the archival footage of that match,” the director recalled. “It’s incredible that the fans did not consider this success their own, but booed a player from Warsaw’s team, hated in Silesia. I think that’s a typically Polish trait. We are unable to rejoice in the success of others; we cannot recognize it as a shared good,” Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz added.Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz.
The audience rewarded the film “To Be Like Kazimierz Deyna” with thunderous applause and stayed after the screening to speak with its author. They asked about the idea for the film and the actors involved. Attention was drawn to the transformation of the protagonist’s parents.
“These simple people, who use crude, vulgar language, change by the end,” one of the listeners said. “Do they undergo a transformation for the better, or was that intentional?” she asked.
Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz explained that the central theme of her film was the protagonist’s coming-of-age and his relationship with his father. “It’s a good thing that parents can learn something from us,” she replied. “At the end of the story, my protagonist finds himself and his happiness. The film is a story about my generation, although I am somewhat older than Kazik in the film. It is a generation that keeps asking itself, ‘Who am I?’ Poland and the reality around us are constantly changing. We spent our childhood under communism, grew up during the period of transformation, and reached adulthood under capitalism, which is also changing,” the author said.
The meeting’s host, Ireneusz Wojtków, asked the director about an interesting fact related to the film. More than 15 debuting actors appeared in “To Be Like Kazimierz Deyna.” That is a lot for a single film.
“That’s true; many of the people who acted in my film had not attended acting school,” the director said. “I managed to work with them partly thanks to my work with young people at the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre. Apart from the children, the non-professional actors included three women at the market and two girls from the boarding house. One of them was a large, curvy girl—the first woman in Kazik’s life. I believe the amateurs handled their roles excellently and performed brilliantly,” she added.
Those who watched the film emphasized that the acting was of a high standard. The film’s star was Jerzy Trela. Viewers asked whether it had been difficult to involve him in a debut film.
“He is an extraordinary actor, a legend to me,” Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz said about her experience directing Trela. “He was very attentive; at every moment I felt that I could count on him, that he would support me and help whenever I needed it. He agreed to act in my film after reading the screenplay. Films are expected to include so-called recognizable names—actors with established reputations. I had some crazy suggestions to cast Karolak, Szyc or Kot in the leading role of Kazik. But I managed to avoid that,” the author said with a laugh.
Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz’s film is a very warm, gentle story, told simply and gracefully, about growing up, life in Poland and doing your own thing, even under the “fire” of football hooligans’ whistles. And about being like Kazimierz Deyna—simply yourself.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)