Telewizja Polska presents
Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You...
Director of Photography
Happy Birthday Dear Jaś, Happy Birthday to You...
Music
Many happy returns of the day.
All the best. Plenty of health, happiness, and good fortune.
And may you be always a cool guy.
Nothing that I have so far achieved as an actress can compare to my personal accomplishments.
I think being a wife and mother is the most beautiful role I've ever played.
And I'm going to stick to it because it makes me very proud.
I love being a mother because my kids are most lovable.
Once she said to me,
"Jaś surely won't remember me, he'll only have my photographs."
Jaś May 2011
Bravo!
Some persons are very close to you even after they die.
I'm not saying it just for the sake of this film. Simply, that's just the way it is.
For instance, I know the way Anka stands, looks like, smiles, how she looks at us...
I just know it.
I precisely remember the sound of her voice.
She's here with us. All the time.
Maybe I'm a lunatic, but I know it's true.
I know she has many friends and acquaintances...
I think of her every single day.
Because I pray for her.
If there is the hereafter,
I think the first thing Ania will do
when we do meet is to chew me out for not calling.
She had a beautiful personal feature that's not so common or obvious among artists.
I mean, the instant the spotlights and the camera are off,
you can stop acting.
You're just human then;
the most amazing average person in the world at that.
ANN
Ania was born in December 1978, during so called 'the winter of the century".
She was a quiet and calm child, but she was constantly hungry.
And that has never changed...
She had beautiful big eyes, and she was constantly hungry.
She was really likable. But her characteristic voice always attracted people's attention.
AGNIESZKA KUBERA SISTER
They would say, "You're such a sweet little cutie, but you sound like an old person."
This distinct feature defined her.
She was simply a buddy from the yard.
Always wearing old blue jeans and sneakers and riding a pink bicycle...
MONIKA BRONIAREK HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND
She wanted to achieve a lot in her life.
Maybe, at first, she didn't think about acting,
but she wanted to be on stage, that's for sure.
It was hard not to notice her; she attracted attention.
Her big eyes and big lips. She was always beautiful.
Everybody liked her. I think she stood out not only in our form, but throughout the school.
ANNA TOMASZEWSKA HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND
Everybody knew her.
It's 1994. I set up a modeling agency. I'm looking for girls.
MAŁGORZATA RUDOWSKA AGENT, FRIEND
They came for the audition. Ania was brought by her high school friend.
That was the first time I saw Ania.
My name is Anna Przybylska.
I'll turn 17 next month.
I'm a student at the Marshal Józef Piłsudski High School in Gdynia.
And I'm 5,7 feet tall. Not too much, but that'll do.
She had complexes. She thought she was too short. Or too thin.
KRYSTYNA PRZYBYLSKA MOTHER
She was not aware of her looks; that she had such long legs and was that beautiful.
But that's how people perceived her.
Eventually, someone came up to her and said, "You cut the mustard."
And then she said to me, "I don't want to be a model, ma'am."
- So, who do you want to be? - An actress.
I've never wanted to be a model. I became a model by chance.
But I think what I want to do in the future is somehow connected with that profession.
My mom and I were invited to Ania's first fashion show.
Right before the show I remember we were running around town,
looking for a flesh-colored thong.
It was a total novelty to me; until then that I had no idea what a thong was.
That was something Ania brought from the big world of modelling.
She said she had to wear flesh-colored underwear under those clothes.
The folks from the Model Plus agency came to tell us
about the Face of the Year contest.
The Face of the Year contest is a big opportunity for many young girls and boys.
Many of them really dream of a big career as a model.
Ania was short-listed for the finals. I was so moved that my eyes were full of tears.
Back then, we didn't know it was just a beginning.
Soon, some lady called and said to me,
"You said one of your girls wanted to be an actress."
"There is an audition to Sławomir Piwowarski's film in Warsaw. Maybe you should go."
So, Ania went with Małgosia to her first audition.
I was making a screen test for "The Dark Side of Venus".
A few dozen beautiful girls came.
And there was a weird creature among them;
RADOSŁAW PIWOWARSKI DIRECTOR OF "THE DARK SIDE OF VENUS" MOVIE AND "THE ZŁOTOPOLSKIS" TV SERIAL
a close-cropped child with big eyes, and speaking in a very low voice at that.
"I'm Anka from the coast."
She looked like some extraterrestrial. But she stuck in my memory.
She wasn't better than the others, she was much worse, actually.
But you did remember her.
Mr. Piwowarski offered Ania the role,
but first he had to talk with Ania's mom.
So...
There was a chance for something,
but back then nobody knew exactly what that "something" would be...
The producer, Kajtek Frykowski, puts the contract in front of Ania's mom and says,
"Ania is still a minor, so you have to sign the contract for her."
And I put the script on the table and say, "Hold on. Read the script first."
"It's serious film. It's a psychological drama about the dark side of the female soul."
And in the corner of my eye, I see that Ania is petrified with fear
that her mother may get scared with what I just said.
And her mom pushes the script away from her
with the gesture that I will never forget, and says,
"She always wanted to be an actress, I'm not going to stand in her way."
What is it, ma'am?
I'm here to see Ewa.
My wife is sleeping now.
Max?
Pardon?
Is it you?
Excuse me, but...
Have we met?
JAN ENGLERT ACTOR
I worked with some persons on the film set for two, three months,
and I don't remember them.
But I remember Przybylska, after working with her for two days only.
We presented the film at the Gdynia Film Festival.
The press conference. I'm sitting with Ania and Agnieszka Wagner.
And the atmosphere is somehow tense and hostile.
POLISH FILM FESTIVAL GDYNIA 1997
And I say, "You may like the movie, or not,
but at least remember one name - Anna Przybylska. She will be a star."
Such unstudied and shirtsleeve people are few and far between.
And it's even more rare to meet someone
who can be this way with such unconcerned ease.
She didn't have any complexes towards the director,
other actors, the film set situations...
Her total directness was charming.
She must have had some special aura...
And that's the way Ania, wearing her Dr. Martens boots
and knitted wool hat, entered the world of Polish movie stars.
I first met Ania right after the "Dark Side of Venus" opened.
KRYSTYNA PYTLAKOWSKA JOURNALIST
I realized she would be a great actress.
So, I decided to interview her.
She was very young back then.
She was 19 perhaps...
And we simply talked about her life, acting career, her plans for the future...
I knew it wouldn't be our first conversation, and, indeed, I talked with her many times later.
I was very lucky and I simply hit the jackpot.
From the very start I worked with renowned actors.
And that was just great.
I think that the opportunity to work with outstanding actors
for so many years molded me.
I benefited a lot from meeting them and talking with them.
And that's what I cherish most.
I knew from the very start that...
she has to be handled differently than the other actors;
you should make use of the way she is.
"THE DARK SIDE OF VENUS" DIRECTED BY RADOSŁAW PIWOWARSKI
And you mustn't force her to anything.
For over a century now, everybody plays according to Stanislavski's system.
Meaning, an actor experiencing the role, the character he plays.
In her case it was totally the other way around. Anka always had to be herself.
The first time I heard about Anka was...
ANDRZEJ PIASECZNY SINGER
When Radosław Piwowarski said to me,
"Mind my words. You'll see..."
- All right, but what will I see? - Wait! And you'll see.
"THE ZŁOTOPOLSKIS" DIRECTED BY RADOSŁAW PIWOWARSKI
Hot Stove. For you, sir.
Thank you, but you suffered needless expenses.
I didn't. Everybody gives me something when I'm on patrol.
- For free? - Yes.
But that's bribery.
That's corrupting a policewoman.
Corrupting? Come on. They just hit on me, and I always take a double serving.
One for you, boss, and one for myself.
Right. But when the chips are down, they can accuse us of taking bribes.
When Ania showed up on the set for the first time,
ARKADIUSZ JANICZEK ACTOR
nobody was surprised what she was doing there. We all gazed in awe at her.
It was incredible that Radosław discovered someone like her at the audition.
Piwowarski discovered Anka and insisted that she would play a policewoman at the station.
PAWEŁ WAWRZECKI ACTOR
And that it would be best if she shows up there and falls in love with the commander.
Thank you.
For what?
The wonderful evening.
- Marylka... - What?
Be quiet.
Though I was ever so much younger then, I met very serious, intelligent, and wise people.
Most of them were big names in the film industry,
but they never made me feel professionally inferior to them,
and never treated me like a snot.
For starters, she met the best Polish actors.
She could watch them, spar with them, rehearse and eventually-act with them.
Just imagine, every day she worked with
Paweł Wawrzecki, Henryk Machalica, Alina Janowska...
No school in the world would give her the opportunity that she got here.
She was just a child back then and she played with the best every day.
She was a colleague who responded to every instruction like a pro.
We liked it very much.
And every time she would hit a bull's-eye.
So, it was high time for what the Germans call Brüderschaft,
meaning: to drop those Misters and Misses, drink a glass of vodka
and start using first names.
The role of Marylka Baka was superbly created by our scriptwriter, Jan Purzycki.
Plus, the work of our four directors...
All this brought me tons of fans over those few years.
It wasn't just a bit part.
It was an important role. It was her TV serial.
She would stride into the studio and ask, "What are we doing today?"
ANNA DERESZOWSKA ACTRESS
Every single day of shooting on the set with her
PIOTR SZWEDES ACTOR
was a kind of madness in the most positive sense of the word.
For me, it was also a lesson of humility.
It was obvious that Anka was a number one,
and I could bend over backwards, but...
I tried to fight up to a certain moment, but I soon realized it made no sense.
You should let Anka loose and just partner her.
We were said to kiss during one of the first scenes we played together.
"That's what the script said, so, there we go, rehearsal."
Will you gimme a kiss, cop?
So, we reach the moment in our dialog when we're supposed to kiss.
- For Merry Christmas. - No.
I don't know what else to say! It was really a big surprise.
Piasek and I were fighting for Ania for many years.
And I think it was the same story in real life.
We all fought for her as we were all under her spell.
I fell head over heels in love
SZYMON BOBROWSKI ACTOR
when I saw in the "Złotopolskis" the most beautiful creature in the world.
Ania was a very young girl when she started to perform in the "Złotopolskis",
I never played in that serial,
but I saw someone gorgeous, unique, beautiful... In a nutshell -lovable.
Those big eyes, the big lips... And that big truth.
Plus that passion, girlishness, and femininity...
And such honesty.
Everything. She was a gorgeous girl, gorgeous woman, and a phenomenal person.
Love at first sight.
Right after an album release,
TVP came up with my "Piasek and Friends" concert.
Please welcome... But please make it a really warm welcome.
Because you know, it's very hard to go on stage and sing.
Ania Przybylska!
I can't recall the details now, but I think I had to almost drag her to the stage.
I remember I hugged her and felt that she was simply trembling.
I guess her voice was trembling too.
It would be interesting to see it again after so many years.
Now and then, blind fate sends you from above,
First some good thoughts, and then bitter tears.
Sometimes you say: they live easier lives,
But that's your lot; this is your own film.
So, when nothing makes you happy,
And don't you feel like doing anything.
Just stand up, do something;
Turn all your longings into moments of pure gold
Find the golden means, do it here today.
Find the golden means the way we did,
And then say if that film's gonna be your gold mine;
Say if it's gonna be something you pleaded for.
Bravo for Ania!
We met in a previous century, I think. I guess it was in 1999.
We hit it off right away.
It's hard to describe it now, because we were almost kids back then.
But we were head over heels in love.
It was in Croatia.
Are you going to say anything?
I love you.
It was the first time she said she loved me.
I'm starving. Don't deny me food.
Crazy days, really. But very happy as well.
Young folks. Very happy. With lots of positive energy.
Lots of love, laughter, and fun...
He didn't tell me
who he was dating, who he was in love with...
LIDIA BIENIUK JAROSŁAW BIENIUK'S MOTHER
He just said, "I have a surprise for you, mom."
I'll call on you. And I'll bring someone with me.
And that was all.
I was just a kid then. A young boy who just moved out from his parents'
with a fresh contract in hand.
They were dating for two months, I guess, when Ania came and said she was moving to Wronki.
"What's Wronki?", I asked. "Where is it?"
It was then that I found out there was that football club.
We pull up in front of my house.
I was living in a four-floor block of flats right next to the wall of the Wronki prison.
There was a bench in front of the house, and old ladies staring through the windows.
The weather was beautiful.
We parked on the street because back then, there were no parking places.
We get out, Ania looks around and says with her peculiar sense of humor,
"Yes, I've always belonged here."
She sat on the bench, crossed her legs, pretended she was smoking
and pushing a stroller at the same time, and said, "Want some coffee, babe?"
She had her little shops, her neighbors... They were simply playing house.
There was great chemistry between them. She fondly recalled their life in Wronki.
They were really tailor made.
It was just like the two halves of an apple met.
It was obvious from the very start it would be a lifetime relationship.
Ania was already a star then, so folks would turn their heads to look at her in Wronki.
I got used to being a minister's wife, though they say it has disadvantages.
"THE CAREER OF NIKOŚ DYZMA" DIRECTED BY JACEK BROMSKI
Because usually when guys come to power, they become impotent. And I'm only 24.
Just like all my friends who are their wives and lovers.
And it's disastrous to have a lover and not be able to shag her.
They say power makes your balls shrink.
So, you'd better stay away from the hallways of power...
Eat something before it gets cold.
We met the moment we both shared the same dream and the same plan,
CEZARY PAZURA ACTOR
namely: to make a life.
I think that made us come close to each other as friends and as colleagues on the set.
And that topic prevailed in the chats we had.
Jarek was her everything. She was very much in love with him.
She was really attracted to him,
her eyes would sparkle and shine whenever she talked about him.
She wanted him to think the best of her. It really mattered to her.
And I knew she thought her profession was the biggest obstacle.
An obstacle for Jarek.
Actually, I was never in a relationship with an actress.
Especially with an actress who is famous, admired, and desired...
An actress that guys have hots for.
And frankly speaking, I don't think I could deal
with the thought that my enemy is lurking round every single corner.
And mutual trust doesn't matter much here.
"Trust me. Only you matter..."
She was diligently building that trust.
And we had a deal. I mean, when she had the nude scenes,
she would say to me,
"Try to cover my tits because, you know, Jarek is a civilian."
We call "civilians" the folks from outside the film industry.
Those scenes made me very jealous,
well, maybe not "very", but I was jealous anyway.
I was jealous because I saw Ania in bed with some other guy, and she was naked at that.
On the one hand, I was full of negative emotions, mainly - jealousy.
On the other, however, I'm well aware of Ania's profession.
I know it's just a scene she has to play.
Anyway, it arouses intense emotions, and at first, I barely coped with them.
I saw that she very much wanted him to see her as a candidate for a wife and a mother.
After just seven months of our relationship, we found out that Ania was pregnant.
I guess it was in February.
I wanted to capture every minute,
that's why I would film everything.
I can still recall the scent prevailing in our home.
The scent of all those baby oils, shampoos, powders...
And I also remember that silence when the baby is sleeping, and everybody whispers.
This is a unique time and mood that's hard to forget.
God, how sweet she is...
I admired the way Ania would handle everything. She was composed and collected.
I think that pictures never reflect emotions the way a movie does.
And when I watch our old movies, I sometimes even sense the scent of the place.
Show us your new haircut.
All right, now let me shoot.
Show your bruise.
This is a big bruise, and this is my big daughter...
With her scratched nose and new teeth...
Send mommy a kiss.
I love you.
We tried to capture and film every stage...
She kept repeating she wanted to have a family. And so did Jarek.
In Ania's case, it was all natural, flowing from her heart.
KATARZYNA BUJAKIEWICZ ACTRESS
She didn't analyze things, or read handbooks and stuff...
She was simply a mother.
I think that good-humored resolve is what Kaśka Bujakiewicz and I share.
That's why we get along that well, and that's why we're on the same wavelength.
After all, we met on the film set.
I was sitting in the dressing room when Ania came in.
At first, I kept at a distance.
"She makes a lot of noise," I thought. As if I didn't...
Lots of commotion...
So, she came into the dressing room, we looked in each other's eyes...
And it simply happened.
And right after the very first hello, Ania and I simply cut loose.
Let's call a spade, a spade. They were simply two nuts.
It turned out we had the same temperament, and the same sense of humor.
We never competed with each other;
something that often happens among actors, among actresses in particular.
I mean that constant testing each other out which one is prettier, smarter, or more clever...
But whenever we two acted together, we just used to give each other that kick.
Kasia Bujakiewicz was very close to our family.
Let's unpack this.
Look what the Santa brought, Oliwia.
Weren't you cold in these shoes, Santa Claus?
At the North Pole?
In Lapland.
- Santa Claus? - Santa Claus...
Thank you, Santa Claus.
And here's a birch rod for mom.
Mom was naughty this year. Very naughty.
Please, stick out your bum, mommy.
Just one hit with a birch rod as a punishment...
Sorry...
- I ate too much, really. - Did you?
Are you satisfied with the presents you got? Was Santa Claus generous this year?
I'm not talking about overeating, I'm talking about the presents.
The food was good. It shows.
Don't sit like this. Get up.
We would always go skiing after Christmas.
Ania liked mountains, their climate, landscape, and the ambience of the place in general.
And the folks we used to go there with.
She was very cautious on the slop.
I don't know how to turn the board.
And, to say the least, it took her a lot of time and definitely didn't come easy.
- I want to ski a bit. - Me too.
- Go on, you still have some time. - I spent 4 hours at home.
You didn't spare me even 5 seconds.
Those skiing excursions were wonderful, like some scout camps.
I would always return from them weeping they were over.
Ania and Jarek had a great gang of friends that I joined.
But don't check the bicycle routes, hon.
Our car is somewhere here, right?
No, our car is somewhere here, near Mottolino.
- No, here. We parked near the carousel. - Yeah. That's right.
So, we must take line 12...
Yeah, and change to bus 187.
All right. Let's go.
Ania shows her sense of humor here. You can also hear her laughter.
I could really make her laugh and lose control.
Generally, we would often mock each other. This was not the first time.
I decided to show spontaneously and in a funny manner a regular day in our home.
And Ania complaining about her aches and cramps...
And something being wrong.
Of course, Ania grabbed the camera right away to record it.
Something aches here... Something hurts here...
In spring 2005, we found out that Ania was pregnant again,
and we'll have another baby.
- Are you nervous, dad? - Am I nervous? Sure, I am.
The time after Szymon's birth was wonderful.
He used to look up to her and he was going with her everywhere.
I always heard that he was the spitting image of Ania.
Not only his looks, but also his character.
He was as eloquent as her.
SZYMON BIENIUK SON
Folks would always say this at birthday parties, family meetings and stuff.
I would also hear that from the teachers who used to teach mom,
or folks who knew her when she was a kid,
"You have to be an actor or stuff 'cos you're as such a smart Alec like your mother."
Wanna gimme a kiss? Come here.
Again.
Give your mommy one more kiss.
Geez. Hey, you, actor. Stop pretending. Gimme a kiss.
The film producers in the USA got interested in her beauty and especially her talent,
and she was invited to come to the States and try her hand there.
Ania said it was not the right timing because Jarek and she were moving to Turkey.
And she was not going to leave her kids and go to America.
She said she didn't see any point in going to the US at that moment.
ANTALYA TURKEY 2007
She said she was going to Turkey because Jarek got a job there.
I asked if she knew it was against her career.
She said, "No! I'll commute, planes fly every day."
I said, "No, they won't commit. No producer will risk the situation
when an actress fails to show up at the film location."
And she says, "Family matters the most to me." That's the way Ania was.
It's April 4, 2008.
This is the landscape after the battle.
I'm filming my darling son who was playing... And just fell asleep.
Because he felt like sleeping.
The time she spent in Turkey was one of the happiest periods of her life.
She had wonderful memories. They were all happy there.
You know, the sun, endorphins...
She was very happy because nobody knew her there.
She could feel at ease all the time.
And now, we can see an aging woman. Look at her wrinkles...
This lady is inevitably approaching her thirties.
It's a bit dark here... You can use some more light.
Right. If you stretch your face like this...
- I'm just looking... - Smile.
You're teasing me all the time.
It was a joke, of course.
We tried to live the life we had been living in Poland.
In the morning, I was going to training, Oliwia to the preschool.
- Where are you going? - Me? To the preschool, but I want to play...
Please, please...
Hugs and kisses! I love you.
She was always following Jarek
because she claimed that a family must stick together.
For her, mother, father, and kids were an inseparable unity.
ANTALYA TURKEY
So, they always have to be together, no matter where they happen to live.
Say, "I love you, mom."
Not "low", but "love".
Not "you", but "I love you".
I'm a stubborn maniac about putting my family before my work.
And somehow, I don't lose the appreciation of the producers,
and I still enjoy popularity among audiences.
No! Don't go there.
She took part in many movie productions and photo sessions commuting from Turkey.
Paradoxically though, it was a very good period in her professional career.
She got lots of offers to play in the movies.
Because she didn't reside permanently in Poland back then,
in a way, she was "a commodity in short supply", so to say.
So, she also got lots of commercial offers as well.
She could come for one day, play in two scenes and get back to Jarek.
In my ranking of respecting a partner, she is in the top ten.
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE FILM SET OF "THE GOLDEN MEAN" DIRECTED BY OLAF LUBASZENKO
She could get on a plane right after shooting and get back to her children.
She really did commute between Poland and Turkey.
After two years in Turkey, we moved to Łódź, when I signed the contract with Widzew Łódź.
They were the first couple that mass media called the "Polish Beckhams".
I'm not as good a football player as David Beckham,
and Victoria Beckham is not as good and talented artist as Ania Przybylska.
So, there is no point to compare us.
Various brands wanted to have Ania in their adds.
Probably because Ania came out the best in every brand survey.
PHOTO SESSION FOR "COSMOPOLITAN" MAGAZINE
She was a good actress, and that's why she could play a model superbly.
And she was really great at that, so photographers loved to work with her.
For me, a sense of fulfillment comes first.
Fulfillment as a mother.
Fulfillment at work.
And fulfillment in the relationship.
I've reached it all, and I have it all.
And I wish that to all of you from the bottom of my heart.
Hi. Listen. Your mom just went in labor.
- What do you say, Oliwia? - Mom is giving birth to Jasio!
- And what do you say, Szymon? - I'll have a brother and I'll play with him.
They planned to have a big family from the very start.
They wanted to have many children.
LIDIA BIENIUK JAROSŁAW BIENIUK'S MOTHER
It really went fast.
Look how tiny he is. You looked just the same when you were his age.
The first meeting.
This is Szymon and Oliwia, your siblings, Jaś.
Oliwia, Szymon... This is your brother.
Ania would say, "Two kids. That's for sure.
AGNIESZKA KUBERA SISTER
And I'll have the third one after I turn forty, just to keep that youthful feeling."
Things went differently, because Jaś was altogether unexpected.
But she was very happy, and said,
"All right, so we'll have the fourth kid after I turn 40."
- Dad? - Yes.
Now, when Jasio is born, you have to get married.
Getting married was not something we cared about too much.
We thought that children are the wedding rings that you can't take off your finger.
I think we're a perfectly matched couple.
When you take into account the number of places where we lived.
How we reconciled it with my work...
And first of all, we have three kids.
It all speaks for itself. Is there any better proof of love?
Hi. Mom is putting on her makeup.
- Are you filming this? - Yes.
And this is me. For you, Jaś.
EUGENIUSZ KORIN DIRECTOR OF "THE VULTURE" MOVIE
Ania came to the audition and I fell in love with her right away.
She was a unique person.
You talk with her about life and you see she's exceptionally intelligent.
You can see that the Lord granted her all His graces:
her beauty, her distance to herself, her sense of humor, her intelligence.
He granted her stamina that's impossible to forge.
"THE VULTURE" DIRECTED BY EUGENIUSZ KORIN
I remember our first meeting on the film set.
I arrived and asked
PAWEŁ MAŁASZYŃSKI ACTOR
if Ania was already there, because I wanted to bat the scene around and stuff.
I was told she was in her camper. So, I headed there, knocked at the door...
- Yes? - Hi, Ania. It's Paweł.
- I came to say hello and chat a bit. - Yes, sure, come in.
So, when I heard that, I opened the door wide and walked in,
smiling and full of self-confidence.
And I saw Ania sitting in there and breastfeeding her newborn baby.
My self-confidence vanished in the haze, I flushed with shame...
I started to apologize.
- Geez. I'm sorry. I didn't know... - Come on. Relax. Haven't you seen tits before?
I can't deny, I had a crush on her, as a young actor.
Because, as I said before, she was beautiful and very, very sexy.
I always wanted to play with her; to meet her on the filmset.
And my dream eventually came true.
- Watch out, mister. - Really?
- And it's not that hit. - It's not that hit.
All right. Let me show you.
"THE VULTURE" DIRECTED BY EUGENIUSZ KORIN
You are very clever. But you're not training enough.
What about a few private lessons?
I'm willing and ready. Are you giving up, coach?
She knew how to be herself on the screen. I mean it.
MICHAŁ ŻEBROWSKI ACTOR
And she believed it was enough to be herself to win over the audience.
But her acting skills were enormous.
From tragedy, through tenderness and passion, right up to comedy.
I remember the moment when Ania,
or rather her talent and personality, intimidated me.
We were rehearsing the scene with the telescope.
Actually, a very difficult scene.
You were supposed to look into infinity.
That's exactly what I'm doing.
I remember when she said that to me looking straight into my eyes,
I was stunned a little because I realized that...
That she was more mature than me.
"ONE WAY TICKET TO THE MOON" DIRECTED BY JACEK BROMSKI
A cousin, huh? What the fuck is that? Incest?
- Have you lost it? Get out of here! - Lie on your back, bitch!
Help! Stop it! I'm calling the police!
I'm the police, bitch!
She was a prototypical movie star. Not a theater actress. A movie star.
JACEK BROMSKI DIRECTOR OF "THE CAREER OF NIKOŚ DYZMA" AND "ONE WAY TICKET TO THE MOON" MOVIES
I think she was so original and suggestive
that it would be hard for her to play someone else.
I've always taken my work lightly.
Meaning, those artists that are very well prepared
and know the text by heart always gave me the willies.
I always thought you should sense the atmosphere first, and then rehearse things.
I was never able to learn anything by heart in advance.
I know that I'm at work the moment I enter my dressing room.
And I'm not at work any longer, the instant I leave it.
I always follow my impulses on the set.
I like it when things are as fresh as a daisy.
I hate repeating takes and endless rehearsals.
If you repeat the take too many times, the freshness is gone.
She played Roksana, a stripper and a mother of a little kid.
I wrote the Roksana part for her.
I wanted a girl who can't be easily labelled.
Who is good; has a good heart, but life makes her make different choices.
The "One Way Ticket to the Moon" is a beautiful and very emotional movie.
The role of a woman that has to make dramatic choices.
It's a small role, and that's a pity.
A great movie with a bitter end.
I said it many times but let me repeat it.
If she had been born 10 years earlier in the United States,
she would have played Vivian in "Pretty Woman".
I think interesting things and big roles are still to come.
I know that one day I'll change;
I'll stop being that sex bomb,
or a mother sacrificing for her children.
And then they'll let me play a dead tired, gutted, ugly woman.
And I know that day will come.
Our dream came true. We got back to Gdynia, our beloved place on the Earth.
I returned after many seasons to my parent club.
It seemed that everything eventually fell into place,
and we will live happily ever after.
And the most important toast. To our new home.
May your mom and dad grow old here.
And may your children, and our grandchildren play in these rooms.
Gdynia is our promised land, get it, Krysia?
We spent 11 wonderful years in various cool places,
but the kids very much need this kind of stabilization.
Here she comes.
- Super mom. - What a charming mommy.
Will my wonderful family bring me a dustbin and a dustpan upstairs?
I'm going to vacuum.
Please bring me the cleaner and stuff upstairs.
Your youngest son is cleaning the house all the time. See?
I'm not going to go some 400 kilometers to attend a fashion show,
or an opening of a new shop where they give me a few rugs for free.
I simply have no time for that.
We live in Gdynia.
And spending time with my family is my absolute priority;
I want to be with my kids, drive them to school...
It matters to me more than going to some fashion show,
or some grand opening of an umbrella in the ass.
A fit mom.
And the perfect housewife.
Szymon, Oliwka, don't splash water on the floor.
I can't wait for the moment we'll read you your bedtime story.
They always horse around.
And always get out of hand if you let them.
Never mind... Dad will mop up the floor later. As usual.
It was a kind of drill at home. That's true. But that was because they loved us.
Now, looking back, I don't see it as something negative.
On the contrary, it was all out of love to make us grow up to be good, decent people.
Mom was very loving, but she was very demanding and severe as well.
OLIWIA BIENIUK DAUGHTER
And everyone was to know their place; as the kids we had to obey our parents.
If you didn't, she could shout at you, or even punish you.
Gimme these candles and stop doing seven things at once.
Gimme these candles.
Relax. Here you are.
Stop it, the f**k.
Relax. I'm just filming. A wonderful, serene family atmosphere.
We're unpacking our stuff from the boxes.
Calm down, damn it...
She got that kind of army-style upbringing at her family home.
He dad was a naval force Commander.
And everything was done in that army-style at their home.
Meaning, everything was in order.
Ania's dad was very important to her.
MONIKA BRONIAREK HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND
She was really afraid of him.
Because at their home, everything had to be the way it should.
Just like in the army.
When the parents get back home,
the place has to be cleaned and dinner has to be ready.
We were still learning how to cook weenies, when she could cook a full dinner.
We often talked about her father. He was a role model for Ania.
She always spoke very well about him.
ALEKSANDRA BOIKE FRIEND
And she was very sorry her dad passed away so soon.
Ania's dad died of cancer,
so Ania was afraid she inherited some genes that could make her develop cancer too.
She would talk about it frequently, and she would have regular check-ups.
She started having regular check-ups when her children were born.
Back then, we thought she was exaggerating.
Even after her father's death, she didn't do that so often.
She used to say, "You know, I'm a mother now. We have our all lives ahead of us."
We returned from the holidays, and she said she had to be examined by a doctor
because she had some stomach problems.
She was very worried, so I sent her to the doctor that I knew, to have an MRT done.
After two, or three hours that doctor called me and said,
"Look, Agnieszka, I didn't tell Ania anything, because she hurried to her children,
I just told her that everything seemed all right.
But I have to process these images, measure things,
and I'll call you in some two hours."
And she called me and said,
"There is something small, I don't think it's dangerous;
she could be born with it, but we have to check it."
We didn't think it could be anything serious.
But Agnieszka, a health service worker, got a bit worried.
After all, it was some lump in the pancreas, so some red flags went up immediately.
It could mean that something was wrong.
Agnieszka called, and she asked me, "Are you sitting, mom?"
- Why? - So, sit down, and I'll tell you something.
And she said Ania had some tests and it turned out...
It was very bad because she has some tumor.
After a few weeks Ania had surgery.
When the doctor went out of the operating room, he said it didn't look good
judging from the texture, color, and shape.
The doctor said that it was necessary to take a limited resection of that tumor
to find out what it actually was.
THE UNIVERSITY CLINICAL CENTER IN GDAŃSK
I remember Ania and I went to the hospital,
and the doctor told us it was the same kind of tumor
that Patrick Swayze had had.
At first, it was a huge shock.
The first thing that you do then, is checking the statistics.
And you read that only 2% make it another five years.
So, you feel totally devastated.
I changed my attitude and changed to fight mode right away.
Actually...
I was ready to fight. I simply couldn't give in.
I refused to believe it was over, and we had no chance.
When word got out about her illness, she was literally cornered by paparazzi.
Not only her, but also her children and her family.
They waited outside her home, and outside her children's schools.
And now what, pal? You know that your shoes betray you, huh?
But you're standing in front of the school. Maybe you're a pedophile?
When we went for a walk with the children, we had to run away and hide in the bushes.
The kids and I went in one direction, she in the opposite direction.
The children were scared... I was in shock.
We were attacked from all sides by tree guys with cameras.
It's doesn't mean you have to rob me of my privacy. Get it?
You and your friend come to my house to take pictures of me.
Goodbye. Off you go. Now!
Don't be afraid, Oliwia.
What are you doing?
What do you mean? I'm collecting strong experiences, just like you.
She was followed and harassed for a whole year.
They even rented an apartment near Ania's house.
Sitting near my house? We have CCTV here. Don't be a loser.
Don't take out your camera. I'm warning you.
I think that many boundaries were crossed.
It was all terribly cruel and...
I'm still disgusted by the way they were doing it.
Paparazzi waited in front of her home to take her picture when she was so ill.
Sometimes I wondered how she had the stomach for a fight with them.
It was terrible.
Those disgusting, little people saw an ill woman,
and the only thing they thought about was how to make money on her illness.
It's abhorrent. It's...
I don't even know how to call it.
You can live on anything.
You can do many things, even morally questionable.
But how can you be devoid of any human feelings.
Especially at that moment? And when it comes to such a person?
After all, everybody saw her as a warm, nice and direct person.
And to provoke her anger; to act jumpy in order to protect her family from sick nosiness?
It's just praying on the lowest emotions.
Stop harassing my family.
You've been doing that constantly for over two years now.
So, you'd better watch out.
I'm not exaggerating. You're in big trouble, man,
because it's harassing me, you hound me and my family.
You have no right to stand in front of my house.
You didn't respect me when I was pregnant, and you don't respect me now.
You can't go much lower than that.
I was outraged by that back then. And I still am.
I can't imagine something like that happens to anybody.
Our last Christmas Eve was...
I don't know if Ania had a premonition of impending...
Or she just wanted that Christmas Eve to be at her place.
We were talking in the room upstairs,
and she said, "If anything happens with me, my children..."
"Come on. Stop it. Everything will be fine," I interrupted her.
"Szymon will receive his First Communion, and Jaś will go to the preschool."
And she stuck to it.
She believed everything will be fine.
And we actually brought Jasio's birthday cake to his preschool.
Ania filmed the event.
Make a silly face to the camera.
But don't bring me the plate, just make a silly face.
Once she told me that Jasio for sure wouldn't remember her.
He would only know her from the photographs.
Janek... It's just great...
Washing the dishes, Janek?
Tell me what you're washing.
- Water. Yes. - Water. Yes...
It's dropping, isn't it?
Luckily, we have no neighbors downstairs. We'd flood them. Right?
I was deeply moved by the way Ania defined beauty during our last conversation.
Every time I listen to what she said tears are just coming out.
When I was a little girl, I used to think that beauty was something outside.
When I saw a girl wearing fine jewelry,
posh clothes, a nice makeup and hairdo, she seemed beautiful to me.
But now, I think the beauty means simply accepting yourself.
Being content with yourself in a current situation.
It takes years and lots of work to achieve that beauty.
Sometimes, it comes to you very late; right before your death at times.
Meaning: the sense of beauty.
It comes when we're completely fulfilled; we lived a long and good life.
Then you can look at yourself in the mirror
and it really doesn't matter if you weigh 10 kilograms too much,
or you're as thin as a rail. You simply find yourself beautiful. Period.
I think this is crucial for success.
And if you don't see the beauty the way I do, you're in for numerous misfortunes.
Unfortunately, the Most Beautiful Woman 2013 can't be with us here today.
And who's she?
"THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF VIVA 2013" GALA
A beautiful, thrilling woman.
A great actress who started her career as a teenager.
An idol of both men and women.
A wonderful mother of three children,
and an exceptional woman who has the courage to struggle with life.
The Most Beautiful Woman of 2013. Anna Przybylska.
I'd like to thank you very much for your respect and affection.
I'm a bit sorry and sad I can't be with you today.
I'm sorry I can't hug Piotr in person now.
But please believe me, I'm doing that in my mind, at a distance.
Of course, I wish you a wonderful evening.
And my heartfelt plea to Piotr. Could you please get my award trophy as well.
Thank you very much.
I have your trophy here, of course.
I'll hand it to you with enormous pleasure, and I'll be even more pleased to give you a hug.
And I think all of us here are hugging Ania fondly now.
Her speech was recorded in Gdynia. She was not able to go to Warsaw back then.
But the recording took lots of time and effort
to make Ania look relatively well at the end of the day.
And yet, people noticed that things were very bad.
I also got lots of phone calls because they realized that.
We did our best all the time to find some hope wherever we could and across the whole world.
I think the turning point was when Ania returned from the United States.
She was supposed to be qualified for some scientific project.
And it gave her enormous hope.
It was a real kick for her. She was very happy.
The first tests looked very promising.
Jarek and her even went to the US for some time.
And when everything seemed to be on the right track,
it turned out that they crossed her off the list of patients admitted for treatment.
I remember, Ania was crying inconsolably.
It was one of those moments when our hopes shattered.
And we were left devastated and helpless.
I remember our sorrow. It was a very hard time.
I found some cool folks who said that Ania should go to Huston
because doctors there were carrying out some groundbreaking treatment of pancreatic cancer.
And then she said to me that she didn't want to go;
she didn't want anything at all; she had no strength to fight.
Ania must have had a very hard time, though she didn't want to show it.
But when we were talking, she said many times that she was afraid.
"Why me?"
"Why now when I have a beautiful house and three children?"
"Why am I to leave it all now?"
"What did I do so terrible?"
That's what she was asking herself.
"Why?"
The Lord and I are good buddies now. We go for coffee every Sunday.
And I feel very fine with that.
I don't manifest it, or impose it on anyone.
One day Ania told us that she wanted to go to church;
to go to confession.
She wanted to communicate with God. She thought that what happened to her
might have resulted from her not talking with the Lord so much.
Ania would return from the church much lighter.
Indeed.
She would say she needed that.
She was much more tranquil.
She tried to teach us many things; convince us to do many things,
like for instance, to pray more often.
I really started to cherish every single minute in this vale of tears.
That's what I've always kept repeating to my oldest child, my only daughter.
If little things don't make you happy, big things never will.
Ania's last interview is full of her great reflections.
I love communing with nature.
It's a time of my prayer... Something really metaphysical.
It's hard to describe what I feel when I walk along the seashore, or in the forest.
Rain or shine; heat or cold.
I just walk at the height of my power; head held high, smiling...
I just walk along the seashore, or through the forest.
And I can drink in the scent of the nature that surrounds me.
But someone who has never come near certain things
may say I'm telling some bullshit.
I met Ania by sheer chance.
She just walked around the corner.
Of course, I was very happy we met,
because I was always very happy whenever I saw her.
She didn't look too well.
She told me she was ill.
Seriously ill.
Sometimes we react in perhaps an inadequate way.
Or we just don't know what to say; what to do; how to behave...
Usually we say: things will be OK. Don't worry. Everything will be fine.
She hugged me.
And she only said,
"No, it won't."
You can't prepare yourself for the death of your child.
No way.
That Saturday was the worst day of all.
Ania wanted us to take her in her wheelchair to the bench near her house.
I remember it was the end of the regatta.
A sunny bright day.
We wrapped her in a comforter and blanket,
and we took her in her wheelchair to that bench to let her look at the sea.
And I remember her words when she said
that it was worth going for a walk for that moment.
I came to see her,
and suddenly I burst into tears. For the first time.
Ania started to cheer me up, she hugged me...
And she told me not to worry.
She said that everything would be OK.
She was saying goodbye to me.
She took my hand, we went downstairs to the kitchen.
And she said she was passing away.
And she also said that one day we would surely meet again.
We'd meet in the hereafter.
I never called her...
Excuse me.
I had no courage.
I'd never told her how much she meant to me.
She was comforting me.
She said we'd surely go for buns.
Because we loved buns; streusel buns.
You always cherish illusions that maybe... But there was no glimmer of hope.
I can't erase that from my memory because it was the last time, I held Ania's hand.
Hours of a prolonged goodbye. For all of us.
It was just one breath and... She simply fell asleep calmly.
We prayed... and everything was over.
Everyone, no matter if they were introduced to her, or not...
Everyone met Ania somehow; be it on the screen, or personally.
I remember I was driving into Gdynia. Her pictures were everywhere.
We didn't need to ask for the way.
It was enough to follow the crowd.
A huge crowd of people.
Some time before, the priest called me
and asked me to read the passage from the Holy Bible during the funeral mass.
I agreed, of course.
I turned round.
I looked at the congregation.
And I saw oceans of people.
I knew one thing.
I mustn't look at Ania's children, because then I wouldn't say a word.
I read that passage.
I finished the reading.
And only then I looked at the children, at Jarek, at Jasio sitting on Jarek's lap.
And I didn't stop weeping until... Well, I actually cried all day long.
Everybody cried. Everybody.
Because they were sincerely sad, not because someone just came to watch the event.
Literally everyone there wanted to bid her their sad farewells.
You passed away too soon, Ania.
We hadn't rejoiced enough in your beauty and talent.
We'll always remember you.
I think she'll be such a butterfly; colorful, cheerful, wonderful...
She loved life so much.
And in her case, it was much too short.
All that's left of us is what we leave in other people's memory.
We remember the vibes of meetings with her...
We remember her smile.
We remember her down-to-earth attitude to life she wanted to live.
And everything she did, she did with a smile.
I'm happy whenever I think of her.
She was such a cool girl.
I'm so glad I found her, and she found me.
I owe her a lot. She knew it much sooner than me
and she made me realized that it's enough to be an average person.
Really.
You really don't have to race against yourself.
You don't have to put your all eggs in one basket.
You don't have to do whatever it takes to be a great artist.
If you're meant to be one, you will. Sooner or later.
But life is not all about throwing yourself into a whirl of your work.
No matter how fascinating it might be.
Thanks to her charm and charisma
she made me confident that you have to be true to yourself.
You should follow your dreams.
You should follow your inner wits,
and believe your inner voice
when it tells you that you're doing the right things.
That's what I liked.
And somehow that's what I actually did in my life.
I also have three children, and I'm happy.
And I'm going down that road.
But I still can do it together with my wife.
Ania - can't any longer.
I miss her so much.
I wish I could tell her that someday.
We didn't have our last talk. I regret it a bit that I didn't tell her
who she was for me, and how much she meant to me.
We had a wonderful life together. We loved each other.
She was the most important person for me. She gave me three beautiful fruits of our love.
I regret I didn't tell her that.
If she were here today?
I would only tell her that I love her.
May you never stop dreaming and keep following your dreams.
Hugs and kisses.
That was meant to happen,
It was meant to be this way,
And it was meant to remain this way.
Reach for the Sun, that's what appeals to us the most,
Though we know the dusk has to fall.
English subtitles: Mirosław Michalczak