HELENA MODJESKA FESTIVAL

I would like to tell about my thorny road to producing Chopin Desire for Love. I’ve been five times close to directing the film, but I had five horrible setbacks in a row, which till today are haunting me with nightmarish dreams!

1980. I got my political asylum in the US, starting a new chapter in my life.

1981. At the end of this year Paul Kohner, a prominent agent, called me asking me to come to L.A. He wanted to sign me as his client. It was a great honor. He already had a cream of Hollywood writers, directors, and producers, having also some great directors from abroad in his agency, including Akiro Kurosawa, Franco Zeffirelli, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Milos Forman. Needless to say, I’ve been very proud to be among them.

Three weeks after my coming to LA, Paul Kohner screened for Rod Steiger my television film “THE MASTER.” This picture turned out to be my great success, recognized by viewers and critics as a masterpiece. It won PRIX ITALIA (European Oscar) and was sold to almost every TV station all over the world.

Here is the story.

German occupation. After the calamity of the Warsaw Uprising, a bunch of refugees have found shelter in the refectory of the old monastery, situated several miles from Warsaw. A great mob covers the space to the brim. Our attention goes up to the old man. Holding in his right hand a copy of Macbeth, he informs everybody around with great emotion that he is an actor, preparing himself for the part of Macbeth. His unusual face reminds one of a sculpture chiseled brilliantly by the great Rodin. When the old man says loudly that after the war he will perform his Macbeth in the main theatre in Warsaw, a great explosion scatters the walls of the monastery.

The Polish guerrillas have blown out the bridge very important for the Germans. As a penalty, the Germans decided to take hostages.

A Gestapo officer storms into the interior of the monastery and starts randomly selecting the hostages. Suddenly he takes the old man’s ID. When he reads loudly that his profession is a bookkeeper, the old man protests eagerly: “I am not a bookkeeper, I am an actor.” During the war we Poles are hiding our real professions. The German says sternly, “How can you prove to me that you are an actor?” “I can play for you a monologue of Macbeth, the one when he says: ‘Is this a dagger that I see before me?’”

The German quickly goes to the soldier, pulls from his sheath the bayonet, and gives it to the old man. But the old man says, “I don’t need the requisite, because Macbeth sees the dagger only in his imagination.” But the German interrupts kindly: “Please be so nice and perform the monologue with a German bayonet.”

The old man starts to play with growing fury. His performance is brilliant. Breathtaking!!! At the end he throws with contempt the bayonet on the glassy boots of the German. He is taken aback, and when it seems that he will burst with anger, he gets up to his feet and says kindly, “Yes! You are an actor!!!” and then smiling secretly adds, “And because your Macbeth was so brilliant, you deserve very special treatment!” And he pushes the old man towards the wall, where nine selected hostages have been waiting for execution.

Rod Steiger, who had theatrical experience, was almost crazy about the story and decided to produce it as a film, performing the part of the old man. He signed me also as director. However, when we were halfway through preproduction, Steiger’s magnificent residence in Malibu burned to the ground, destroying all his memorabilia, including his two Oscars.

Steiger lost his mind, and two strong nurses had to use force to get him to the hospital.

It was my first setback, and I also came close to madness.

1983. Paul Kohner introduced me to a young producer, Harry Clinton. He saw my movie and, impressed by it, offered me to direct a script titled “One Hundred Arrows.” Giving me the script, he said, “I may give you only 21 shooting days, including 12 nights.” I was very upset by that information.

Due to European standards, for a full-length feature film a director needs 45 or more shooting days. And instead of telling him how happy I was receiving this offer, I told Harry ex promptu that in Hollywood he may find dozens of directors who know much better than me how to make action movies.

Paul Kohner was very upset by that stupid decision and said that by rejecting the project I labeled myself with the nickname of a very fastidious European director who is interested only in artistic films.

1985. In the UCLA competition for a professorship, I won full tenure as a professor at step three. In 2015 I retired as a full professor, step seven.

The year is 1985. A Romanian producer, Karmino Tadarescu, after watching my Night and Days, gave me a script titled “The Lady of the Camellias,” telling me that he wanted me to direct it. He asked me for a meeting the next week. However, we never met again. The son of a prominent lawyer—a sixteen-year-old bastard loaded with drugs—caused a head-on collision and smashed Tadarescu’s car into junk, killing him on the spot. It was my third setback, which put me into a great depression.

In 1987, a Canadian producer, Sam Sanders, had a screenplay titled “THE VEST.” It is a story about Jesus Christ, and Sanders had been looking for a classy director. After watching my Nights and Days, Sanders signed a contract with me for directing The Vest. Three days before our departure to Spain to start the film, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST was released. The film made religious society furious. Insane zealots started to burn film theatres. Due to that horrible situation, Sanders stopped production. It was my fourth setback.

The year is 1998. Samuel Grogg, one of the prominent producers who had two Oscars, was a teacher of production at UCLA, and I was great friends with him. His wife was from Poland. One evening during dinner, Sam asked me if I had any plans for directing. I mentioned my script Chopin Desire for Love. After reading it, Sam exclaimed effusively, “It will be my third Oscar.” However, destiny was cruel to Sam. Due to poor investments, he went out of business and lost almost all his assets. He said to me with great pain, “Sorry, Jerzy, but I must stop the production of your brilliant script,” and he burst into tears.

It was my fifth setback.

Overcome with despair, I couldn’t sleep. I smoked two packages of cigarettes and drank glasses of alcohol. In the middle of one night I told Jadwiga, “Let’s chop that bad luck from America and go back to Poland.” It was 1999, and many of my friends had started production companies. I thought, “Now, when I bring the script about Chopin, my compatriots, remembering all our successes including Nights and Days with 23 million viewers, will throw themselves into my arms.” However, almost everyone told me that this project was too expensive for them.

A very mediocre film director, who during my glory days in Poland had been diminishing my achievements, hit me below the belt by saying brutally that I should try to find financing in some other country. His vicious words reminded me that I couldn’t get money in America after living there for so many years. I felt insulted, and I said to Jadzia, “Let’s go back to America.”

Suddenly, on the night of departure, I got a call from the greatest Polish bank. The secretary said that the president of the bank, Mrs. Henryka Pieronkiewicz, wanted to see us in her office. On the day of the meeting, Mrs. Pieronkiewicz diffused the tense situation by saying, “Jadwiga, I’m so in love with you and your acting that I named my daughter Jadwiga.”

After a while she said, “I was told that you want to make a film about Chopin. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a screenplay?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a producer?”

“No.”

“Do you have money?”

“No!”

“How much would you want?”

When I was lost for words and started mumbling that it was a period piece that needed a lot of money, she said cordially, “I am giving you 25 million zlotys. Is that enough?”

I was petrified—unable to express words of thanks. It was a miracle that happens only once in a million years! The film got in Poland the Golden Ticket from the box office and was sold to 37 countries all over the world. The closing credits read:

“This film was made possible thanks to the President of the Bank of Poland.”

Yes, it was an incredible gift from God!!!