From December 3 to 7, the World Film Research Center of Shanghai Normal University hosted the "Film Academy And Film Screenwriting Workshop", and the 74-year-old Krzystov Piersevits came to Shanghai as a mentor for the film school. During this time, Pieševits also recalled the collaboration with director Kieslowski, sharing his understanding of art and some of the feelings of being a screenwriter for more than 30 years.
Krzystów Pierzewitz is an important contemporary Polish screenwriter who is a lifetime jury member of the Academy Awards, whose name may not be well known, but whose works are highly known, include "Blue", which won the Golden Lion Award at the 50th Venice Film Festival, "White", which was nominated for the Golden Bear award at the 44th Berlin Film Festival, and "Red", which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 47th Cannes Film Festival.
His screenwriting style has influenced many filmmakers, this trip to Shanghai, Piersevitz shared an interesting story, that year "Red" won the 67th Academy Awards Best Original Screenplay Nomination, he and Kieslowski went to the award ceremony together, "On the same day, Quentin, the director of "Pulp Fiction", won the award (the 67th Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), he sat next to me, before going on stage to receive the award, he patted me and said, don't worry, I am from your "Ten Commandments" Started learning screenwriting. ”
One of the most important directors in the history of Polish cinema, Křzyzyrovsky has won numerous awards for his work, and he was also nominated for the Best Director Award at the 44th Berlin Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the 67th Academy Awards for directing White and Red, and on March 13, 1996, Kieslowski died of heart failure in Warsaw, Poland, at the age of 54, not long after completing Tricolor: Blue, White, Red. Pierševits said that after Kieslowski's death, he was still involved in the screenwriting of 7 films, and the directors he cooperated with were also excellent, but the cooperation with Kieslowski was very different.
Perhaps the most brilliant part of Piersevitz's screenwriting career was his collaboration with director Kieslowski, who in just 8 years or so collaborated on 17 films (ten in the Endless, Ten Commandments series, Killing Shorts, Love Shorts, Veronica's Double Life, and trilogy Trilogy: Blue, White, Red).
The two met back in 1982, when Kieslowski was filming a court documentary and was introduced to Pierševits, who was already a famous lawyer. The first time they met, there was a "chemistry" between the two, he said: "We found that we had similar family education backgrounds, neither of us was particularly wealthy, neither of them was respected by the system, and we both wanted to express what we thought was important through art." ”
Unable to obtain the film that only the government had the right to allocate at the time, the documentary was not completed, but it was later adapted by the two to make a feature film. Pierševits recalls: "When naming the film, Kieslowski originally wanted to name it 'Euphemism to Be Continued', but finally listened to my opinion and used the name 'No End'. ”
Unfortunately, "Endless" was not screened and was criticized by the government, opposition and churches. The reasons for the criticism vary from side to side, but Pierševits believes that if everyone has an opinion on the film, then the film is artistically successful, "which is an artistic gain, because the film depicts a side that everyone can't see in society." ”
At the film academy, Pieševits also told the students: "Artists have a strong ability to observe, and their duty is to introduce people to things that they usually can't see." "Screenwriters need to be sensitive enough, and he thinks the Chinese trainees are doing a good job of that," and they can describe human suffering and difficulties, and they have a lot of sensitivity to see the most critical things." Piersevitz also stressed that "but this art is simply a description, and it is necessary for the audience to make their own judgments." ”
It was also after realizing this that Pieševits had the idea of shooting the Ten Commandments, and he also persuaded Kieslowski. So after three years, the two worked together again to write the script, and finally Kieslowski alone directed 10 films, each about 1 hour long.
Many viewers tried to find biblical origins in the Ten Commandments, but Piersevitz's own vision was not directed at the dogmas of the Old Testament, but at polish social experience, and he and Kieslowski wanted to explore the moral dilemmas of the Poles at the time. American film critic Roger Albert also said after studying the Ten Commandments that the 10 short films do not constitute an illustration of the precepts, but present the story of real people facing real complex problems.
During this film academy, Pieševits will also advise the academy to tell the story from a personal point of view, and his film philosophy is to "talk about human nature through small personal problems, and synthesize the whole world through small events." Kieslowski also agrees with this, so his lens is filled with concern for the fate of the individual.
Piersevic recalled: "Although he and Kieslowski disagreed on some details, they were in agreement in general directions, they did not contradict or quarrel, they respected each other, and Kieslowski would also pull the team together when receiving honors.
The two of them were not only partners, but also close friends, And Pierzewitz said: "We also exchanged our own book lists, and he joked with me that we are both people who record life because he makes documentaries and I have to deal with legal cases." In the three years of filming the "Blue, White, Red" trilogy, the two even lived together and were each other's closest friends.
In the trilogy, Pieševits also implemented his artistic concept of "telling human nature through personal problems", and both he and Kieslowski focused on human emotions and nature, "What we want to tell is human nature, which has nothing to do with time and space, humiliation, poverty and other emotions are common in the world, we will give the story a fixed background, but we will avoid a fixed angle." During filming, in order to make the story acceptable to a wider audience, he and Kieslowski removed parts that were difficult for non-Polish audiences to understand. It is for this reason that although the trilogy is a film about the Polish political system, we can also empathize with the emotions in it.
Pierševits believes that there is a big difference between creation and production, he does not like the term "film industry", because "industry" means production, he frankly said: "In the current film industry, now it is usually the screenwriter who writes the script and then gives it to the producer, the producer and then to the director, and the director goes to find the actor, such a production has no artistic value, and now few directors will invite the screenwriter to participate in the process of editing and cutting the film." But when they created Blue, the whole process from the director to the screenwriter to the composer team would think together, because the whole process of composer Prissner was involved in the whole process, and the music became a part of the vitality of "Blue".
Screenwriters should have keen observational powers and the ability to tell interestingly what they observe. Pierševits told the film school students: "It can be told in a humorous way, but it is not ridicule, but a warm, humane humor." For example, the film "White", although it is criticizing the male protagonist and Poland, but with a kind of love. The film is a tribute to Chaplin and has Chaplin's style. In Pierschevitz's view, Chaplin's style is a love of human beings.
Piersevic also told the students: "The background of "White" is actually the transformation of Poland, people need to decide for themselves whether to do business or not. In addition to chasing fame and profit, the male protagonist is still kind, he will help others, he is also very romantic, we just observe him with a warm perspective, but when it is time to criticize, we must also criticize. ”
The content of the "Blue, White, Red" trilogy is inseparable from love, and Pieševits believes that artists should have a mystic quality, or a desperate quality, he said: "I am more inclined to despair, and the way to overcome despair is love." ”