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Multifunctional Chopin: therepresentation of Fryderyk Chopin inPolish filmsEwa Mazierska aa University of Central LancashireVersion of record first published: 22 Jan 2007.

To cite this article: Ewa Mazierska (2004): Multifunctional Chopin: the representation of FryderykChopin in Polish films, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 24:2, 253-268

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Historical Journal of Film, Radio and TelevisionVol. 24, No. 2, 2004

Multifunctional Chopin: the representation ofFryderyk Chopin in Polish films

EWA MAZIERSKA, University of Central Lancashire

Frederic or Fryderyk (as he is known in Poland) Chopin [1], a distinguished PolishFrench composer and piano virtuoso, is one of the favourite artists to be represented incinema. There are over 20 films in which he appears either as a principal or secondarycharacter [2]. These films are very heterogenous in terms of the period when they weremade (the first was produced in 1918, the last one in 2002), the country of production(amongst many they are Poland, Germany, France, Britain, Spain and the USA), genre(Chopin was a character of solemn biopics, love stories and romantic comedies), as wellas in their approach to the function of the biography of a famous artist and itsrelationship to his/her ‘true’ life [3].

This article will investigate the relationship between cinematic representations ofChopin and the wider culture in which such representations are produced. I aminterested in establishing the ideological purposes for which the portrayals of Chopinwere used, how his biography and personality were re-created in the cinema to suitthese purposes, and if the filmmakers were successful in fulfilling their ideologicalobjectives. I will also discuss the relationship between representing Chopin in aparticular way and making an artistically accomplished film.

Rather than discuss all films about Chopin ever made, I will concentrate on twoPolish biopics, Mlodosc Chopina (The Youth of Chopin, 1952), directed by AleksanderFord, and Chopin—Pragnienie milosci (Chopin—Desire of Love, 2002), directed by JerzyAntczak, passing over another film about Chopin made by Polish director, La NoteBleue (The Blue Note, 1990) by Andrzej Zulawski, as his film was made in France andwas addressed primarily to a French or international audience. The principal context inwhich I will discuss the films about Chopin will be Polish culture, or more specifically,Polish culture at the moment when the particular biopic was made. First, it is worthsaying something about biographical films in general as well as providing some back-ground to Chopin’s life and his legend.

Artists on Screen in the West and in the East

In her article ‘Artists mythologies and media genius, madness and art history’, GriseldaPollock attempts to establish the main features of the representation of artists in arthistory and media, concentrating on the case of Vincent Van Gogh. She suggests that,as paradigm of the ‘modern artist’, Van Gogh can serve as a model of the way artistsare depicted in art history books and in popular media. She sums up this approach bythe term ‘psycho-biography’. ‘Around his [Van Gogh’s] life and work what appears to

ISSN 0143-9685 print/ISSN 1465-3451 online/04/020253-16 2004 IAMHIST & Taylor & Francis Ltd

DOI: 10.1080/0143968042000223736

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be a particular form of discourse has developed—a special way of discussing the artistand his works which is presented as if it were only a response to a reflection of hisexceptional individuality, his genius’ [4]. The artist is characterised by excess, mania,pathology, otherness and, consequently, solitude and tragedy, and his art is regarded asa reflection of these aspects of his personality. Pollock, who is close to the Marxistperspective on art, which emphasises the relationship between artistic production andsocial, economic and political history, is highly critical of perceiving madness as themain factor in Van Gogh’s work, or indeed, that of any other painter. She suggests that‘the discourse on madness and art operates to sever art and artist from history’ [5]. Thepopular media and cinema in particular tend to follow art history books in foreground-ing the artist’s life (at the expense of his work) and regarding the artist’s excessivepersonality as a crucial factor in his art, neglecting other factors, such as the socio-pol-itical circumstances of his existence.

Similar conclusions are reached by John A. Walker in his book Art and Artists onScreen. He agrees that psycho-biography (although he does not use this word) isregarded by art historians and filmmakers as the key to understand an artist’s work.Walker, who based his research on a larger group of films about real and fictitiousartists, also observes that they tend to emphasise the gap between artists and society.

The rift gives rise to a whole series of conceptions of artists as beings who aredifferent from ordinary people: they are inspired geniuses, eccentrics, bohemi-ans, lunatics, outsiders, rebels, iconoclasts and scourges of the bourgeoisie(upon whom, paradoxically, they usually rely for financial support). Artistspreserve in their practice something society in general has lost, for examplecontrol over their work, pride and pleasure in their labour. They are still intouch with unconscious desires and forces—the erotic, the perverse, theobscene and the blasphemous—which ‘straight’ society has outlawed or re-pressed. They also invoke archaic and primitive forms—pagan religions,magic, alchemy, the occult, shamanism—which rational, scientific societyconsiders it has transcended. The artist thus becomes a repository of valueswhich mainstream society has relinquished [6].

No wonder there is a conflict between the artists and society; typically the society isunable to appreciate or even to understand the new, unusual way of perceiving theworld which an artist proposes. On the other hand, the artist tends to reject acompromise with his social milieu and the wider world, even at the price of failing togain wide appreciation and financial advantage. In the films which Walker analyses, thejustice is always on the artist’s side, of which the ultimate proof is his/her posthumousfame and a large following of imitators. Although Pollock and Walker limit theirdiscussion to fine artists, their analysis is also applicable to popular biographies andmedia representations of other types of artists, including musicians, as they are alsousually portrayed as bohemians and outsiders, who disregard the rules of mainstreamsociety, particularly in relation to erotic and family life. Moreover, they are often mador physically frail (or both). Similarly, their artistic achievements, both in terms of theirstyle and quality, are explained by their excessive personality, their genius, rather thanby the historical conditions of their life or their education. Numerous examples of suchrepresentations include the films of Ken Russell, the best known author of films aboutmusicians; examples are The Music Lovers (1970) about Tchaikovsky and Mahler(1974) about the eponymous composer, while other classics of the type include TheGreat Waltz (1938) by Julien Duvivier about Johann Strauss and Amadeus (1984) by

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Milos Forman. More recent examples, such as the biography of Jacqueline Du Pres,Hilary and Jackie (1998), directed by Anand Tucker conform to this approach, which,following Pollock, can be described as ‘psycho-biographical’.

Representations of artists as mad geniuses, separated from society and history, arelargely confined to the West. In art history and popular media, practised in socialistcountries, the emphasis was put on the very factors in the artists’ biographies, whichwere neglected by Western directors—historical circumstances of their lives, such astheir class position, the influence of their teachers and mentors, as well as social,economic and political events, and the whole culture which surrounded them. In theseminal book on the topic of biography in the Soviet Union, Sovietskij biograficzieskijfilm (Soviet Biographical Film, 1949) written by Rostislav Yureniev, we find suchrequirements towards directors of biopics as that the protagonist should be a ‘greatman and progressive activist, whose achievements the audience would like toimitate’ [7]. Yureniev also postulates that the main character in a biopic should be atypical representative of his epoch, nation and class, whose life is ‘a true reflection ofthe spirit of his time’ [8]. Furthermore, the screen biography should foreground thehistorical meaning of the work and life of the famous individual, and therefore itsauthor should concentrate on their social dimension, at the expense of depicting ofhis/her private life [9].

Yureniev published his book at the time when socialist realism dominated thecinemas of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Later socialist realism was rejectedand new paradigms dominated cinema in respective countries. However, I will arguethat privileging the historical context of an artist’s life and the influence of political,social and economic factors of his work remained the dominant model of biopic incountries such as the Soviet Union, Poland or Hungary. This approach can be termed‘historical’ [10]. Examples include the Polish film Warszawska premiera (Warsaw’sPremiere, 1950), directed by Jan Rybkowski about Stanislaw Moniuszko (which will bediscussed later), Czech Z meho zivota (From My Life, 1954), directed by Vaclav Krskaabout Bedrich Smetana, and Komitas (1988), directed by Armenian director DonAskarian. The last film, about the eponymous great Armenian composer and singer(true name Soghomon Soghomonian), deals with an issue at the heart of the Westerndiscourse on artists, the artist’s madness (Komitas spent the last 20 years of his life inmental institutions), but explains it by the historical circumstances of his life—traumacaused by the 1915 genocide, when Turkey killed two million Armenians. In this groupI would also place The Pianist (2002) by Roman Polanski about Polish Jewish pianistand composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, famous for his interpretation of Chopin’s music, aswell as some of the most popular Polish songs of the 1950s and 1960s. I would arguethat the world-wide recognition of this film is largely the result of Polanski’s decision toconcentrate on Szpilman as a typical example of his epoch, nation and class.

Obviously, each approach is no more than a model. In practice, Western arthistorians, as well as film directors, were unable to neglect completely the historicalcontext of the life of a painter or composer. Similarly, the socialist historians and filmdirectors could not reduce an artist to the sum of historical circumstances. Moreover,on both sides we find films which defy the norm, particularly those made by non-main-stream directors, such as Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach (Chronicle of Anna Mag-dalena Bach, 1968), directed by Jean-Marie Straub, which situates Bach’s life and musicfirmly in economic and social history, avoiding any sensationalist events. Accordingly,in my discussion of Chopin on screen I will be equally interested in those aspects of afilm which conform to a particular model of biography, as in those which oppose it.

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Chopin—Eternal Romantic

Although it is always possible to ‘shape’ one’s biography in such a way that it suits aparticular idea or message, it can be also argued that some lives are more suitable topsycho-biographic and some to historical approach. For example, artists who suffereda prolonged illness, especially of the sort, which was romanticised in history, such astuberculosis or schizophrenia, and died young are ideal heroes of psycho-biographies[11]. Similarly, those whose beginnings were humble and who were uprooted, living farfrom their families and countries of birth, provide exemplary material for this type ofbiography. Another factor which is conducive to constructing a ‘psycho-biopic’ is anartist’s unconventional or tragic love. Conversely, artists who were ‘death dodgers’,reaching old age in good mental and physical health, remained in monogamousrelationships and literally and metaphorically stayed near their homes, are preferablechoices for the historical approach. Obviously, the open involvement of an artist in anysocio-political movements and political content of his/her work is also a bonus for thosewho want to treat their biographies as an historical phenomenon.

Accordingly, Chopin’s life and music appears ideal material for the first type ofbiography. Born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw to a Polish mother and Frenchfather, who left his country to take the post of governor with a Polish aristocrat, all hislife Fryderyk was regarded as frail and died of consumption at the age of only 39.Moreover, when he was 20 years old, he left his family and country of birth to settle inFrance, never to return to Poland, but always missing the country of his childhood.Although he gained recognition as a composer, pianist and pedagogue, he also wentthrough periods of financial insecurity, which were exacerbated by his apparent disin-terest in matters other than music [12]. Chopin’s romantic life can also be read as asuccession of unfulfilments and failures. His Polish loves for a young singer, KonstancjaGladkowska, and the daughter of an aristocrat, Maria Wodzinska, to whom he wasengaged, were never consummated, cut short by Chopin’s emmigration. In FranceChopin embarked on an affair with a famous French writer, George Sand (real nameAmandine Aurore Lucile Dudevant) (1804–1876), who was six years older than he.Later he was also romantically involved with Sand’s daughter, Solange. The very factof entering such an unusual love triangle gives Chopin an aura of mild perversity.Moreover, neither of these relationships was successful in the traditional sense, as henever married Sand and after eight years he parted from her. He also rejected Solange’slove and she married another man. He never had any children and died in solitude.

In popular consciousness Chopin’s music is regarded as very emotional, conveyingfeelings such as sadness, nostalgia or conversely extreme joy, even ecstasy. Thesequalities, as well as the fact that most of Chopin’s compositions were written for a singlepiano, construe both the performer and audience of his music as possessors of‘romantic’ nature: sad, dreamy, prone to changes of mood and slightly out of tune withordinary life. Such a perception is strengthened by the way Chopin’s music is featuredin other media [13]. In films and novels love of Chopin’s music, particularly in the caseof women, is evidence of being delicate and introverted. Also, in the recent televisionadaptation of The Forsyte Saga, on several occasions one of the female characters, Irene,is shown playing Chopin—her love of his music being a sign of her yearning for a great,‘romantic’ love and her rejection of the values of the materialistic, rational Forsytes.

The numerous popular representations of Chopin: paintings, sculptures, literarybiographies strengthen these aforementioned perceptions. For example, in portraitsChopin is shown as a handsome, but sad man, immersed in his own thoughts. There

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is also a quality of fragility about his physique. His slender body and Roman noserender him as a man of aristocratic pedigree (although his true background, as waspreviously mentioned, was rather modest). On the whole, by looking unhappy anddreamy, dying young, childless and on foreign soil (foreign from the Polish perspec-tive), he perfectly conforms to an ideal of ‘romantic’ artist, at least in the commonplaceor cliched sense of this word. We can regard him as a ‘Van Gogh of the musical world’.The majority of filmmakers also followed this stereotype, an epitome being Zulawski’sThe Blue Note about Chopin’s last visit to Sand’s estate of Nohant. In Zulawski’s filmChopin spits blood, often faints (therefore must be carried by servants or by a donkey),suffers delusions, is unpredictable in his behaviour and alienated from the wider world.Even his relationships with George Sand and Solange do not really matter to him—from time to time he succumbs to their attention and affection, but even then heremains distant, impenetrable to any man or a woman, communicating only with hispiano.

The connections of Chopin with romanticism in a stricter sense, understood as aparticular artistic style and a period in European history, are more complex. Forexample, Arthur Hedley, while acknowledging some romantic traits in his music, suchas being influenced by Polish landscape and folklore, finds in Chopin’s music a creativeequlibrium, resulting from bringing together the classical concern for form and theromantic urge for inspiration [14]. Hendley also disputes the claim that Chopin had aromantic, ‘dishevelled’ personality. In regard to young Chopin he writes: ‘Enjoying thepatronage of princes, he ran the risk of being snubbed (as sometimes happened toyoung Liszt), but this, so far as one knows, never happened, thank to Chopin’searly-developed sense of tact, his delicate perceptions of limits to be drawn andfrontiers that might not be crossed. In these impressionable years were implanted thatexquisite feeling for what is “right”, that reserved and perfectly correct attitude towardsthe outside world which were to become a fundamental and unalterable part of hischaracter’ [15]. A similar opinion regarding the romanticism of Chopin’s music andpersonality can be also found in a book by Adam Zamoyski, appropriately entitledChopin, powsciagliwy romantyk (Chopin—reserved romantic). [16]

It is also worth mentioning here that romanticism both as an artistic paradigm andas a ‘style of living’ is perceived as a crucial aspect of Polish national culture. Thegreatest Polish writers, painters, musicians, even filmmakers, irrespective of when theylived, are classified as Romantics [17]. The numerous tragedies, afflicting Poland,including over hundred years of non-existence as an independent state and manyunsuccessful uprisings to regain sovereignty, resulted in the popular belief that Polishhistory and fate are essentially romantic. There is also a commonly held view that thePolish soul is romantic, which means that Poles are very emotional, irresponsible andreckless, as well as prone to nostalgia and sadness. It is unnecessary to decide which ofthese claims are justified, and which belong to national mythology. Being regarded asa model romantic makes Chopin a central figure in the discourse on Polish nationalculture, a ‘quintessential Pole’.

Chopin as a Young Revolutionary: Mlodosc Chopina (The Youth of Chopin)

The romantic legend surrounding Chopin’s persona and life is the measure ofdifficulties encountered by any filmmaker who tries to depict Chopin according to anhistorical perspective—as a child of his time, a man who was strongly influenced bypolitical events and attempted to shape the wider world around him. The immense

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challenge to represent Chopin this way was undertaken by Aleksander Ford (1908–1980), the first Polish director, to make a film about this composer, later renowned forhis superproduction of Krzyzacy (The Teutonic Knights, 1960), based on a famous novelby Henryk Sienkiewicz of the same title. Ford, who began his career in the movies in1929 and in the 1930s was a co-founder of a left-leaning society of filmmakers, calledSTART, intended to make a film about Chopin even before the Second World War,but then his dream did not materialise.

Mlodosc Chopina (The Youth of Chopin, 1952) was not only made in a socialistcountry, when all film production was financed and controlled by the state, but at atime when socialist realism dominated Polish cinema. Polish filmmakers, in commonwith their counterparts in other countries of Eastern Europe, following the directives ofAndriei Zhdanov, were expected to present reality not in an ‘objective, scholastic way’,but in its ‘revolutionary development’. Moreover, they were meant to concentrate onthe characters enthusiastic for the socialist cause and in this way strengthen the causeof Communism [18]. In response to this demand a number of films were made aboutpeople with revolutionary credentials, the best known example being Zolnierz zwyci-estwa (Soldier of Victory, 1953) by Wanda Jakubowska about a famous (or infamous, ashe is perceived today) Communist, Karol Swierczewski. In addition, biographies ofsome eminent people who normally would not be regarded as Communists or revolu-tionaries, especially artists, were ‘re-modelled’ to adjust to the socialist realist paradigm.Particularly interesting from this perspective is the previously mentioned Warsaw’sPremiere (1951) by Jan Rybkowski about the composer Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819–1872). Moniuszko is represented here as a patriot and man of proto-Communistpersuasion, in love with ‘simple folk’, as opposed to siding with the upper classes, anddeeply inspired in his art by Polish folklore. In common with other biopics of thisperiod, in Rybkowski’s film patriotism is almost equated with being of humble back-ground and/or having left-wing views. The simple people are represented as true Poles,who create and cherish Polish culture, while the upper classes are portrayed as greedyand selfish traitors, more interested in foreign fashions than indigenous traditions.

The success of Warsaw’s Premiere in attracting ordinary viewers and fulfilling thesocialist realist ideal was a factor in the way The Youth of Chopin was made. However,the task of Ford was more difficult than Rybkowski’s, not least for the fact than unlikeMoniuszko who spent his whole life in Poland and held high positions on the Polishmusic scene, Chopin was a cosmopolitan, who lived most of his adult life abroad. Toovercome this problem, the director decided to depict Chopin between the 15th and21st years of his life, spent mainly in Poland, when his affinity to Polish culture andpeople could hardly be questioned. In common with Rybkowski’s Moniuszko, Ford’sprotagonist enjoys socialising with ordinary Polish people, such as domestic servants,peasants and factory workers, visiting their houses, taking part in folk weddings andother events where popular culture flourishes. He also shows sympathy to the misery ofthe Polish lower classes, exploited by the Polish aristocracy, the Russian Tzar and theCatholic Church. The Church is represented in a particularly bad light, as greedy andhostile towards the Polish fight for independence from Russia. Ford also demonstratesthat Chopin’s music was deeply influenced by the Polish landscape, which the youngcomposer knew first hand, wandering the fields near Warsaw and sometimes evengetting lost in the Mazovian woods. Such a representation of Chopin on the one handsupports the dubious claim that Chopin was close to socialism (in reality he wasindifferent to class politics) and on the other perfectly corresponds with the idea thatthe folklore and life of ordinary people was an important inspiration for romantic art.

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Further evidence of Chopin’s Polishness in Ford’s film is his falling in love with a youngwoman from Warsaw, the singer Konstancja Gladkowska. The composer left his nativeland before their affair had any chance to blossom, but it is suggested in the film thatChopin kept Konstancja in his memory during his emigration to Vienna and Paris,dreaming about her when ill.

From the socialist realist perspective restricting the narrative to depicting Chopinonly in his youth had several additional advantages. One of them was to demonstratethe effectiveness of education and indoctrination by showing how this young man’spersonality was influenced, even transformed by various external factors, particularlyhis teachers (including the famous historian and university professor, Ignacy Lelewel),his school friends and the whole revolutionary atmosphere which was sensed in Warsawin the late 1820s. Evidence of Chopin’s eagerness to absorb new, progressive ideas isthe fact that he composes music as an immediate response to the political events inwhich he participates.

Another advantage in concentrating on the Polish chapter of Chopin’s life is to usehis experiences of this period as propaganda for Communist revolution and goodPolish–Russian relations. Chopin’s friends and fellow students dream about overthrow-ing the Tzar because it would result in liberating Poland as a republic, in whichpeasants would possess their own land, as opposed to serfdom which existed at the timeand was favoured by the Polish aristocracy. Abolishing the Tzardom was also the aimof the Russian ‘Decabrists’ and Ford goes to great lengths to emphasise on the onehand the similarity between Polish and Russian revolutionaries, and on the other theideological gap between Chopin’s circle and Polish aristocrats who supported the statusquo in Poland. Being aware that representing Chopin as a fully fledged political radical,plotting to fight the Tzar with weapons would contravene the historical truth in anunacceptable way, Ford represents the artist as a loyal, but marginal member ofpolitical movement. His friends, perfectly aware of his unique musical talent and poorhealth, constantly urge him not to engage directly in the patriotic struggle. Conse-quently, Chopin serves the cause of the anti-Tzar uprising/pro-peasants revolutionlargely through his music. For example, when the young rebels organise a meeting todiscuss the revolution, they ask him to play the piano in the adjoining room, so thattheir enemies would not hear their discussion, only the music. Ford also suggests thatChopin’s music, in another instance, influenced people’s ideas and behaviour, evenencouraging them to take part in the revolution, in this way conforming to the socialistrealistic notion of the artist as an ‘engineer of human souls’.

The idea of revolution, which principally refers to military struggle, in The Youth ofChopin is also applied to music. Chopin dreams about revolutionising music, asconveyed in an episode when he attends a concert in Warsaw by the famous Italiancomposer and violin virtuoso, Niccolo Paganini. Afterwards Chopin confesses that hewants to be like Paganini in reference to the piano by changing the way piano music iswritten and performed. Chopin’s musical ‘revolution’ bears completely positive conno-tations and ‘by osmosis’ instils good association with military revolution. Conversely,professors in the musical academy who are unfavourable towards Chopin’s musicalinnovations are also politially conservative, accepting Poland’s part in the Tzar’sempire.

Ford also touches on Chopin’s life abroad, but he uses even this period to convey theartist’s patriotism and his commitment to the revolutionary cause. After leaving PolandChopin goes to Vienna to further his musical career. There he learns about theoutbreak of the November Uprising of 1830, when Poles, including many of his fellow

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Warsaw students marched against the Tzar and resulting in thousands of Poles beingexecuted or exiled. Chopin did not take part in this tragic event, but Ford makes usbelieve that he not only wanted to, but attempted to return to Poland to fight alongsidehis friends. Unfortunately, bad weather and illness prevented his return—the stage-coach, in which he travelled to Warsaw, was buried in snow and the coachman decidedto return to Vienna. Chopin did not repeat his journey to Warsaw, but confined to bedand suffering high fever he imagined his friends fighting in the uprising in Warsawagainst the Tzar’s army. The scenes are accompanied by Chopin’s music, which createsan impression that it motivated the insurrectionists. Thus in spite of being physicallyabsent, in a metaphorical sense Chopin remained in his country during the uprising.Later we see Chopin playing one of his compositions inspired by the uprising at thelarge concert in Vienna. His elevated performance deeply moves his audience and theconcert is transformed into a demonstration of solidarity by the inhabitants of Viennafor brave and suffering Poles.

When Chopin moves to Paris, the bulk of his friends, exiled after the failure of theNovember Uprising, move there also. Virtually wherever he turns, he meets hiscompatriots. Similarly, the old discussion about how Poland should regain its indepen-dence from Russia and whose interests such independence would serve are nowrelocated from Warsaw’s salons to Paris. Chopin, of course, in common with his Polishfriends, is on the ‘progressive’ side. Their meetings strengthen the impression that theNovember Uprising was a war between the rich and the dispossessed, rather thanbetween Poland and Russia. Relocating the film’s action to Paris also allows the Polishstruggle for independence to be situated more firmly in the context of internationalrevolutionary movement. The Paris streets, as represented by Ford, are thronged withpeople singing about the brotherhood of workers and demonstrating in favour of therevolution. Chopin, together with fellow emigres, is shown joining the crowd ofrebellious Parisians.

In spite of emphasising the sponge-like personality of Chopin and rendering his artas a simple and immediate translation of his experiences into musical notes, there is alsoa touch of mystery to Chopin’s life and art in Ford’s film. The principal reason for thisis the choice of Czeslaw Wollejko for the main role. Wollejko, who resembles Chopinphysically, having a Roman nose and slightly frail physique, specialised in the roles ofaristocrats and eccentrics, who had difficulties in coping with day to day existence, andwith an aura of nonchalance and nostalgia about them. Likewise, in The Youth of Chopinhis sad eyes, dreamy face and relatively short stature set him apart from the bulk of hisfriends, who are all masculine, well-built ‘men of action’. There is also a differencebetween his voice and manner of speaking, and that of the rest of the film’s cast,betraying the sensitive nature of his character. Arthur Hedley’s description of Chopinas a ‘young man with the air of high breeding and “graceful cough” ’ suits Wollejko’sChopin perfectly.

It could be argued that thanks to Wollejko’s creation, one can detect a touch ofpsycho-biography in Ford’s film. Another factor complicating the overall historicalapproach to Chopin’s biography is his music, recorded for the film by some of the bestPolish players and singers, including Halina Czerny-Stefanska, Wanda Wilkomirskaand Stefania Woytowicz. In its complexity and variety, often lyrical or mischievoustone, it undermines the central idea, conveyed through the narrative of Ford’s film, thatChopin used music as a simple vehicle to illustrate the events in which he participated.By means of mise-en-scene, Ford also, perhaps unintentionally, invokes nostalgia for thePolish aristocratic and military culture. We are made to admire the style and beauty of

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the aristocratic palaces, visited by Chopin and his friends, as well as their elegantcostumes and impeccable manners. Needless to add that such an elegance (condemnedin the official political discourse as decadent) poignantly contrasts with the socialistculture of the time Ford’s film was made. Moreover, as Konrad Nalecki and AndrzejWajda (the same who several years later would free Polish cinema from the constraintsof socialist realism) observed in 1952, Ford makes reference to several differenttraditions in Polish painting, including bourgeois sentimentalism (particularly in thelove scenes), paintings of battle scenes of Artur Grottger and folk pictures of AleksanderKotsis and Jozef Chelmonski [19].

On the whole, The Youth of Chopin comes across as a film fulfilling many apparentlyirreconcilable objectives: showing Chopin as a man whose biography and personalityreflected the conflicts of his times, but also a musical genius, whose talent was a mysteryto his peers, promoting patriotism and internationalism, advocating Communism andinvoking nostalgia for bygone days, when some people were gentlemen and ladies,rather than all being comrades. As a consequence, the film appealed to different typesof audiences, including the nationalists and patriots for whom Chopin epitomisedPolish romanticism. As time passed, however, Polish critics tend to notice only socialistrealistic aspects of Ford’s biopic at the expense of the features which undermined orquestioned them. Nowadays The Youth of Chopin is regarded as a model example of thesocialist realist school [20]. In my opinion, however, it is a perfect example of how theboundaries of this paradigm could be stretched to accomodate other messages andsubtexts, even conflicting with the ideology, created by Alexander Zhdanov andRostislav Yureniev [21].

Chopin as Unconvincing Patriot and Infantile Lover

The most recent film about Chopin made in Poland is Chopin—pragnienie milosci(Chopin—Desire of Love, 2002), directed by Jerzy Antczak. The director, who is also theco-author of the script (the second scriptwriter is Antczak’s wife, Jadwiga Baranska),prided himself for making the film most faithful to Chopin’s life. In Antczak’s ownwords, he and Baranska not only went through Chopin’s biographies, but also numer-ous documents from his past [22]. Chopin—Desire of Love is also more ambitious thanits predecessors in covering the artist’s life: from his teenage years until his death oreven, so to speak, beyond his grave. I refer here to the last scene of the film, in whichChopin’s sister brings his heart from France to Poland, to be buried in his nativecountry. Moreover, in common with Ford, Antczak made an attempt to depictChopin’s life against the broad backdrop of political, social and cultural events inPoland and France. In this way a biopic, as with The Youth of Chopin, is combined withan epic.

It was believed that Antczak’s cinematic experiences made him a very suitable choicefor directing this type of film. He is well known and respected for screen adaptations ofPolish literary classics of large budget and high production values, including one of thebest epics in the history of Polish cinema: Noce i dnie (Nights and Days, 1975), basedon the novel by Maria Dabrowska (with Jadwiga Baranska in the main part) about animpoverished gentry couple, set against the backdrop of the political changes whichtook place between the 1860s and the beginning of the First World War. The artistryof Nights and Days lies primarily in the author’s ability to reveal the complex relation-ship between individual lives and the wider culture. The main couple, Bogumil andBarbara Niechcicowie, on the one hand are the victims of the tragic fate of their

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country, while on the other they attempt to create their own fate and shape the historyof their country. In 1980 Antczak immigrated to the USA hoping to make a career inHollywood, but was unsuccessful and in the early 1990s he returned to Poland toresume his career. Chopin—Desire of Love is his first film after an eight year break. Itsproduction was accompanied by a significant media hype: the critics expected a filmwhich would combine the ‘national’ aspect of Chopin’s life with his private existence atleast as successfully as Antczak did with Bogumil and Barbara’s lives in Night and Days.

It is more difficult to place Chopin—Desire of Love in the context of Polish cinema ofits time than it was in the case of The Youth of Chopin. The cinema in postcommunistPoland is not governed by any set of rules imposed by the political authorities, and itis even difficult to discern after 1989 any dominant schools or paradigms. Having saidit, however, I will argue that in its style and ideological approach Chopin—Desire of Loveis close to several literary adaptations made at the end of the 1990s and the beginningof the next decade, such as Ogniem i mieczem (With Fire and Sword, 1999), directed byJerzy Hoffman, and Pan Tadeusz (1999), directed by Andrzej Wajda, which can bedescribed as a ‘heritage cycle’ [23]. They all have a classic, epic style, resulting infaithfulness to chronology and above-average length and their setting is ‘a rural idyll’.Furthermore, they are made from a nationalistic perspective, pronouncing love of one’scountry as the highest duty of each Pole, and suggesting that those who do not feelattached to their motherland are unhappy or emotionally impoverished. Nationalism isalso conveyed and encouraged by nostalgia either for the times when Poland waspolitically strong and feared by its neighbours, and/or when its culture flourished. Theyare addressed largely to young people who through cinema are meant to learn about thehistory of their country. In all cases, there was hope that schools organising trips ofpupils to cinema to see such films will assure their box office success.

Although unlike the aforementioned films, Antczak’s biopic is not a literary adap-tation, in common with them it has a ‘literary’, epic style and prides itself on possessinghigh production values, being attentive to recreating details of setting and costume.Moreover, it plays a part in the current debate about nation and nationalism due to thefact that Chopin’s music is one of the most precious jewels in Polish cultural heritage—distinctively Polish and at the same time admired by foreigners. Furthermore, incommon with its predecessors in the heritage cycle, Chopin—Desire of Love was meantto fill the cinema with young viewers, eager to learn about their national heritage.

The reasons for the upsurge in the number of heritage films in recent years arecomplex. In order to present them one has to touch upon a multitude of factors, suchas Polish cinematic traditions, the way Polish films are financed and distributed and thepower of ‘film veterans’ within the Polish film industry and their personal ambitions[24]. However, one of the most important is the perception of a crisis in nationalidentity and culture which occured after the collapse of the Communism. In theopinion of filmmakers, such as Hoffman and Wajda, the road to the renewal of Polishculture is through remembering, recreating and celebrating the nation’s past [25].

By making a film about Chopin as the greatest Polish composer, Antczak openlysubscribed to the same political agenda as Hoffman and even more as Wajda, who inhis adaptation of the work of the national Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz,also features Mickiewicz as one of the characters in the movie, representing him as asuffering exile. Yet, unlike Wajda, Antczak wanted to enrich his patriotic agenda bydepicting a private aspect of Chopin’s life—his love for George Sand, as well asdetailing Chopin’s musical career and conveying his genius. Such an ambition can bepartly attributed to Antczak’s desire to make a definitive and total biography of Chopin

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and partly to his tacit expectation that while the patriotic side of Chopin’s life willattract schools, the melodramatic will bring individual viewers to the cinemas. Althoughit is not impossible to be a brilliant artist, passionate lover and a devoted patriot, it isequally true that there is a tension, if not an overt conflict between those various rolesand loyalties. Consequently, representing somebody in all these roles poses a majorchallenge for a filmmaker, who risks being superficial and psychologically unconvinc-ing. Discovering whether Antczak did rise to this challege is one of my objectives in thissection of my article.

Chopin’s patriotism, which at this moment in Polish history almost equated withhatred of Poland’s occupiers, particularly Russia, is already demonstrated in the firstepisode of Antczak’s film. The teenage Fryderyk is woken at night and requested to goimmediately to see the Great Prince Konstanty, the Tzar’s deputy governing the Polishpart of the Russian empire. The young musician is very reluctant to accede to thisdemand, but in the end agrees, persuaded by his father that fulfilling Konstanty’s desirewould ensure that he gives Fryderyk a scholarship to Paris. The ruler, who is repre-sented as emotionally unbalanced, even mad, asks Chopin to play some marches withhim on the piano and their playing on four hands soothes Konstanty. Later we seeKonstanty publicly sentencing Polish anti-Tzar conspirators to exile in Siberia. Thisevent is witnessed by the inhabitants of Warsaw, including the Chopins, precipidatingFryderyk’s decision not to serve Konstanty any more, even if it means losing the chanceof a scholarship abroad. Nevertheless, Fryderyk soon goes to Paris with money, whichwas meant to be his sisters’ dowry. The year of his emmigration is 1830, which is alsothe year of the outbreak of the November Uprising. To avoid the impression thatChopin’s decision to leave Poland resulted from his indifference towards the fate of hiscountry (which was also a concern of Aleksander Ford in The Youth of Chopin), Antczakprovides some justifications as to why he did not participate in the uprising. WhenChopin confides to his friends that perhaps he should remain in Poland to fight theTzar, they tell him that he would do more good for the Polish struggle for indepen-dence playing in the Paris salons and they point out that his poor health makes himunsuitable as an insurrectionist. Both of these reasons were also given by Ford, but TheYouth of Chopin also included a scene when sick Fryderyk actually leaves Vienna forWarsaw to take part in the uprising. Such an episode might contradict historical truth,but it prevented the viewers from thinking that Chopin was only a ‘declarative’ patriotwho in reality preferred a comfortable life abroad.

Following Chopin’s emigration to Paris, representing the artist’s apparent patriotismconstitutes for Antczak even a greater problem. As previously mentioned, in his filmFord overcame this difficulty by representing Paris as a ‘little Poland’, full of exiledPolish revolutionaries, intellectuals and artists, who stuck together and did not abandontheir dream of an independent Poland. This society was depicted as Chopin’s solesocial milieu. By contrast, in Antczak’s film there are very few Poles in Paris and theydo not constitute any distinctive community. Accordingly, we get the impression thatin this city Chopin cannot lead a life similar to that in Warsaw. Neither does he seekany exiled friends in Paris. If he meets any Poles it is because they approach him or areeven sent to him from Poland. Instead he happily sinks into Parisian high society, thensuccumbs to charms of George Sand and her entourage. Most of the time we see himaccompanied only by Sand and her children, first in Majorca, where the couple moved,seeking a better climate for the frail composer and avoiding the prying eyes of Parisians,regarding their affair as scandalous, then to Sand’s estate in Nohant.

In order to maintain Chopin’s patriotic credentials, Antczak decides to place Poland

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at the centre of the artist’s inner life. He shows that many of Chopin’s experiences inFrance and Majorca were connected in his mind with his memories of Poland. Forexample, plants and birds which he sees in Nohant remind him of those which he sawin Mazovia. Conversely, experiences which are very different from those of his child-hood are also associated with the Polish period because of their very difference. Onsuch occasions Antczak’s character reminisces nostalgically on his idyllic, Polish pastand complains about the lack of anything which was very precious to him when he wasyounger. This refers particularly to sensual experiences, such as images, sounds, smells.His Polish mother, Justyna, who is depicted both as a devoted parent and as a Polishpatriot (she knows many Polish songs and hates the Tzarist oppressors), also plays avery prominent part in Fryderyk’s memories. By contrast, his French father, althoughhe remained in Poland after his son’s emigration, does not feature in his memories atall. Another means to demonstrate that deep in his heart Chopin remained a Pole arefrequent extra-diegetic images of an archetypal Polish landscape with willows andstorks. Such images accompany Chopin’s polonaises and mazurkas, which are moststrongly associated with Poland. Similarly, on the rare occasions when Chopin hasdirect contact with Polish culture, it immediately inspires him to write music which isvery Polish in character. An example is the scene when his Polish servant plays some(folk) music on his violin and almost at this very moment Chopin composes a mazurka.Conversely, experiences of living in France or on Majorca are on no occasion ‘trans-lated’ into music in Antczak’s film.

These ways of demonstrating Chopin’s love of Poland are easy to comprehend,which is an advantage in the light of the fact that the film is addressed largely to youngviewers. At the same time they strike as banal and old-fashioned, both in terms ofrepresenting Polishness and an artist’s mind. Polish reviewers of the film complained atthe excessive number of storks and willows featured in Antczak’s film and the clichedcharacter of their images, used on numerous occasions before in connection withChopin [26]. For example, a willow features in the best known monument of Chopin,which stands in Lazienki Park in Warsaw, often described as the most famous piece ofkitsch in Poland. Similarly, storks and willows were used many times in the publicitymaterial for Chopin Festivals. Moreover, they featured prominently (and were anobject of reviewers’ criticism) in the earlier Polish heritage film, Wajda’s Pan Tadeusz.Paradoxically, in playing on stereotypes of Polish culture, Antczak does not testify tothe richness of Polish natural and cultural heritage, but on the contrary, to its poverty.

The idea that the artistic process consists of reproducing sensations and memorieswas also conveyed in The Youth of Chopin. The difference is that in Ford’s film Chopin’smusic was typically an illustration of political events, such as protests, marches andrevolutions, while in Antczak’s biopic it depicts Chopin’s private experiences. Anotherdifference between Ford and Antczak’s rendering of Chopin’s music lies in that thelatter chose for his films only the best known Chopin’s compositions, as if he wasanxious not to challenge the viewers’ taste and their perception of Chopin’s ouvre. Theoverall result confirms the Polishness of Chopin’s art, but again renders it as clichedand perhaps even questions Chopin’s inventiveness.

As previously mentioned, the story of Chopin the patriot, serving his country bywriting ‘Polish’ music, is intertwinned in Antczak’s film with the story of Chopin thelover. In this respect his film follows the long tradition of Chopin’s biopics; examplesare La valse de l’adieu (Farewell Waltz, 1927) by Henry Russel, A Song to Remember(1944) by Charles Vidor and Impromptu (1991) by James Lapine, which also concen-

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trated on Chopin’s love life, typically depicting his affair with George Sand. As waspreviously mentioned, Sand was six years older than Chopin, and when they met shealready had two children from her previous marriage and a reputation as a ‘liberated’woman who changes her lovers as often as her gloves. Antczak, however, with theexception of the first scene with Sand, when we see her wearing male costume andsmoking a cigar, challenges this view. Instead, he represents her as a devoted motherand betrayed wife who was looking for love outside marriage out of desperation, not outof lust. When Sand met Chopin, her maternal instinct was directed also to him. Theirfirst true encounter took place when she looked after Chopin when he was ill and hereciprocated her affection largely out of gratitude. At this stage their relationship waspurely platonic. Although it later acquired a sexual dimension, still, according toAntczak, the main role Sand played in the artist’s love was that of carer and guardian.For example, when the couple moved to Majorca, accompanied by Sand’s children,Maurice and Solange, Sand took sole responsibility for finding and maintaining a housefor them. She cooked for the whole family, washed clothes, tended the leaking roof andwas so tired with domestic labour that she showed no interest in lovemaking. She alsostarted to call Fryderyk ‘Malenki’ (My Little) which further accentuated her maternalattitude to her lover. Chopin made no effort to help Sand, either physically, ormentally, in supporting her efforts to keep the whole family happy. On the contrary, hesuccumbed to the role of Sand’s adopted child, becoming capricious and demanding.He even used his illness and his talent as an excuse to always be dissatisfied andindifferent to others.

In due course the focus of the film moves from the relationship between Chopin andGeorge Sand to the competition between Chopin and Sand’s son, Maurice, for herheart. Although this contest is initiated by Maurice, who refuses to accept that he is notthe only man in his mother’s life, it is encouraged and bolstered by Fryderyk, whowants the same things from George which her son demands. In this way he demon-strates his immaturity and inability or unwillingness to differentiate the role of a loverfrom that of a son. It is excellently portrayed in an almost humorous scene set duringa lunch in Nohant, in which Maurice and Fryderyk both expect her to give them theirfavourite part of a roasted chicken—its breast. However, as there is not enough chickenbreast for everyone at the table, only Maurice receives it, causing in Chopin an outburstof hysteria. He accuses Sand of a deliberate attempt to humiliate him and soon heleaves her house mortally offended. Furthermore, it appears that the conflict betweenFryderyk and Maurice is the ultimate reason why Chopin and Sand part forever.Interestingly, the relationship between Chopin and Sand’s daughter Solange plays onlya minor role in the deterioration of the relationship between George and Fryderyk. Itappears as if Sand disapproves of a possible affair between Chopin and Solange notbecause she is jealous of her lover, but because she is worried that it can emotionallydamage her daughter.

Sand’s taking the role of surrogate mother of Chopin and the gap in their maturityis strengthened by the difference in age between the actors playing respective parts,which is almost twice as large as between the real Fryderyk and Aurora. Danuta Stenka(b. 1961), who plays Sand, is 11 years older than Piotr Adamczyk (b. 1972), who is castas Chopin in Chopin—Desire of Love. Moreover, in Antczak’s film Sand is oftenjuxtaposed with Chopin’s real mother, Justyna Chopin, which adds to the impressionthat the artist treated Sand as a substitute of his mother, rather than a lover. If we areto believe Arthur Hedley, who writes that ‘Chopin undoubtedly had the art of gettinghis own way, and one can observe in his intimate relationships some of that curious

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“tyranny of the weak over the strong” which has puzzled philosophers and psychologists[27], then we must regard Antczak’s rendering of Chopin’s character as close to reality.However, at the same time it undermines the legend of the artist as a noble patriotwhich Antczak also tries to preserve. The overall result is a film, which is inconsistentand broken in the middle.

By portraying Sand as a maternal figure, rather than as a passionate lover, Antczak‘polonised’ her. In her bottomless devotion, selflessless, patience, strength, practicalsense and sexlessness, as well as in her lack of interest for the ‘high life’, led in the salonsof Paris, Sand is reminiscent of the figure of the ‘Polish mother’. This model wasintroduced in the 19th century and soon became the dominant model of femininity inPoland. Evidence of that is the fact that we find incarnations of the ‘Polish mother’ innumerous later historical and artistic representations of women, including films, madeafter the Second World War. The ‘Polish mother’ was born following the partitionsbetween Prussia, Russia and Austria, when Poland ceased to exist as a separate state.At the time men took part in the fight for independence and women became head ofthe family, as well as breadwinners. The ‘Polish mother’ is a figure of significantauthority and she is an entirely positive character, yet it belongs firmly to patriarchaldiscourse, constraining Polish women’s subjectivity and denying them sexual desires[28]. Likewise, Antczak’s representation of Sand as the ‘Polish mother’ and his overallemphasis on the role of mother in the man’s life can be regarded as evidence of thestrength of patriarchal discourse in Polish postcommunist cinema. Such a ‘polonisa-tion’ of Sand helps to situate Antczak’s film more firmly in the nationalistic andpatriarchal, heritage paradigm. However, unlike the majority of films, made after 1989,including the adaptations of literary classics, patriarchy in this case does not equate withmisogyny. Against the backdrop of a plethora of films which casts women as dangerouswitches and selfish ‘bitches’, and in the best case silly girls, Chopin—Desire of Love is oneof the most pro-women films made in Poland in this period.

When discussing The Youth of Chopin, I mentioned that casting worked against thesocialist realist paradigm, to which Ford’s film was meant to conform. In particular, the‘romantic’ personality’ of Czeslaw Wollejko counteracted the idea that young Chopinwas like a sponge, eagerly absorbing all external influences. In Antczak’s version, thecasting also works against the ideological framework of the film, albeit for differentreasons and with different consequences. Adamczyk’s Chopin is devoid of charisma: itis difficult to believe either in his musical talent or in his romantic charm. Moreover,the fact that the actor is of rather strong physique and round face makes his charactera rather unlikely sufferer of consumption. Consequently, we regard him as an ureason-able, capricious child, rather than a man who loses his mind due to physical and mentalsuffering. When I was watching Chopin—Desire of Love in a cinema in Warsaw, wherethe audience was made up almost entirely of secondary school students, his appear-ances, particularly in the second part of the film, were greeted with malicious commentsfrom the viewers, which conveyed, albeit in a less polite way, the opinion that Chopinis immature and spoilt. George Sand played by Danuta Stenka, on the other hand, hasintelligence, beauty and glamour, making Sand one of the most formidable femalecharacters in Polish post-Communist cinema. Maybe aware of the difference in theartistic ability between the two main actors, the director gradually moves his interestfrom Chopin to Sand. In the second part of the film, when the action moves first toMajorca and later to Nohant and Paris, she becomes the main heroine of the story,while Chopin metaphorically withers and turns pale. Polish critics even argued that theimportance of George Sand should be recognised in the title of the film [29].

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By removing Chopin to a secondary position in the film and ‘infantilising’ him,Antczak, perhaps unintentionally, contests the ethos of Polish ‘heritage cinema’, whichcasts men in the principal roles and glorifies macho masculinity. More importantly,from the perspective applied in this paper, it belittles a man treated as a Polish nationalhero. Paradoxically, from two films about Chopin made in Poland—one in the ‘darkages’ of Communism, another in ‘People’s Poland’—the first was more faithful to thepopular legend of Chopin. As for their faithfulness to historical truth, both strike asbiased, albeit in different ways, the first by putting too much emphasis on the external,socio-political factors shaping Chopin’s life, the second by representing adult Chopinas immature and totally dependent on his lover.

Polish critics, disappointed with Antczak’s version of Chopin’s biography, called fora more faithful film about Chopin, a film which would depict his life truthfully andexplain his greatness as a composer [30]. It will be increasingly difficult to make sucha film in Poland and not only because all biographies are inevitably partial, but alsobecause of the importance of Chopin in Polish culture, which a large section of Polishaudience expects to be acknowledged in film. Directors should use the topic of the lifeof Chopin (or, for that matter, of any famous artist or person of importance in nationalculture) as an opportunity to investigate Polish history and find new idioms with whichto discuss Poland’s past. Uncritical celebration of Polish history and locking it into ahandful of cliches does not demonstrate the richness of the culture of this country.

Correspondence: Ewa Mazierska, Department of Historical Studies, University of Cen-tral Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, UK. E-mail: jelonek@lesie.fsnet.co.uk

NOTES

[1] To stress that Chopin in this paper will be discussed as a character in Polish films, I will use thePolish version of his name—Fryderyk.

[2] See Hanna Milewska, Adam Wyzynski, Chopin na ekranie, Kino (March 2002), p. 13.[3] Ibid., pp. 13–16.[4] Griselda Pollock, Artists mythologies and media genius, madness and art history, Screen, 21,

(1980), p. 62.[5] Ibid., p. 65.[6] John A. Walker, Art and Artists on Screen (Manchester, 1993), p. 16.[7] Quoted in Jerzy Toeplitz, Mlodosc Chopina, Kwartalnik Filmowy, 5/6 (1952), p. 118.[8] Ibid., p. 118.[9] Ibid., p. 118. It could be argued that some of the requirements are incompatible, for example,

‘being great’ and ‘being a typical representative of his class and nation’.[10] Persuasive criticism of psycho-biography and an apology of a ‘mature’, complex historical

approach to an artist’s life are found in two articles by a veteran of Polish film criticism, ZygmuntKaluzynski: Muzycy bez muzyki, Video Club, 12 (1996), pp. 40–41 and Kizior, Beethoven iChopin suchotnik, Polityka, 18 (2002), pp. 55–56.

[11] See Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor (London, 1979).[12] Compare Arthur Hedley, Chopin: the man, in Alan Walker (ed.), Frederic Chopin: Profiles of the

man and the musician (London, 1966).[13] There are over a hundred films with Chopin’s music used in the soundtrack. Source: Polish Film

Archive.[14] Hedley, op. cit., p. 8.[15] Ibid., p. 6.[16] Adam Zamoyski, Chopin, powsciagliwy romantyk (Krakow, 2002).[17] A perfect case in point is the director Andrzej Wajda, regarded as the main representative of

romanticism in Polish cinema.

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[18] See Andriej Zdanow, Przemowienie na Pierwszym Wszechzwiazkowym Zjezdzie Pisarzy Radziec-kich (17 sierpnia 1934), in his Przemowienia o literaturze i sztuce (Warszawa, 1954).

[19] Konrad Nalecki and Andrzej Wajda, O wykorzystaniu tradycji malarstwa w sztuce filmowej. Naprzykladzie filmu Milosc Chopina, Nowa Kultura, 30 (1952), p. 26.

[20] See Wieslaw Chelmniak, Pragnienie mdlosci, Wprost (10 March 2002), p. 111; Hanna Milewska,Adam Wyzynski, op. cit., pp. 14–15.

[21] In this respect The Youth of Chopin is an achievement comparable with Ford’s The TeutonicKnights.

[22] See Jacek Marczynski, Lodowaty spokoj aniola, Rzeczpospolita (28 February 2002), p. SA11;Liliana Snieg-Czaplewska, Romantyczna goraczka, Viva, 6 (2002), p. 30.

[23] See Ewa Mazierska, In the land of noble knights and mute princesses: Polish heritage cinema,Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 21 (2001), pp. 167–182.

[24] Some of the reasons are discussed in greater detail in Ewa Mazierska, op. cit.[25] Such an opinion can be regarded as evidence that Poles prefer to live out their national identity

by means of some surrogate. Such an approach to national identity, in my opinion, could beunderstood and excused in times when Poland did not exist as an independent state, but atpresent it largely signifies the artists’ conservatism and inability to come to terms with reality.

[26] See Zbigniew Pietrasik, Pan Chopinowski, Polityka, 9 (2002), Wieslaw Chelmniak, op. cit.,pp. 110–111.

[27] Hedley, op. cit., p. 7.[28] Compare Elzbieta Ostrowska, Filmic representations of the ‘Polish mother’ in post-Second World

War Polish cinema, The European Journal of Women’s Studies, 5 (1998), pp. 419–435.[29] See Bozena Janicka, Chopin—pragnienie milosci, Film, 3 (2002), p. 48.[30] See Zbigniew Pietrasik, Pan Chopinowski, Polityka, 9 (2002), Wieslaw Chelmniak, op. cit.,

pp. 110–111, Andrzej Kolodynski, op. cit., p. 38.

Ewa Mazierska is Senior Lecturer in Film and Media Studies, University of Central Laucashire. Her article‘In the land of noble knights and mute princesses: Polish heritage cinema’ appeared in the HJFRT, 21 (2001),pp. 167–182.

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