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9 February 2010


Polish Culture in the World
Polish Cultural Institutes
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Adam Mickiewicz Institute
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Jerzy Radziwiłowicz
languages: Polish  / English 
 

Born in 1950, Radziwiłowicz is a theatrical, television and film actor, a professor at the National Academy of Theatre in Kraków and a translator.

He graduated from the Faculty of Acting of the National Academy of Theatre in Warsaw. He debuted in 1972 on the stage of the Old Theatre (Stary Teatr) in Kraków as Zagórski in Michail Szatarov's "Bolsheviks" directed by Andrzej Przybylski. One year later he already played in Adam Mickiewicz's "Forefather's Eve / Dziady" directed by Konrad Swinarski, a staging, which became part of the canon of Polish theatre. Swinarski also hired Radziwiłowicz for "Liberation / Wyzwolenie" and for the television version of Wyspiański's "The Judges / Sędziowie". He also begun rehearsals for Shakespeare's "Hamlet", where he was supposed to play the main role, but the staging never took place because of a sudden death of the director.

Jerzy Radziwiłowicz was lucky to meet in his theatrical and film career the most outstanding Polish directors and actors. Already in 1973 he started collaborating with Jerzy Jarocki at the staging of Franz Kafka's "Trial". He collaborated with Jarocki among others at the stagings of Anton Czechov's "Cherry Orchard" (1975), Gogol's "Controller" (1980), Thomas S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" (1982), Calderon de la Barco's "Life Is a Dream" (1983), Mrożek's "Portrait" (1988), the breakthrough and canon staging of Gombrowicz's "Wedding" (1991) and the first Polish staging of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's "Faust" (1997).

In 1977 he was notice by Jerzy Grzegorzewski who trusted him with the role of the groom in Stanislaw Wyspiański's "Wedding Party / Wesele". Eighteen years later Radziwiłowicz played in another version of Mickiewicz's drama, this time it was Grzegorzewski's staging of "Forefather's Eve, 12 Improvisations / Dziady, 12 Improwizacji". Inspired by Grzegorzewski, Radziwilowicz prepared in 1996 a new translation of Moliere's "Don Juan".
"Jerzy Radziwilowicz benefited from the French role, after which he wanted to present on Polish stage the original rhythm of Moliere's text and therefore attempted the translation. It was a success. It is a role of full flavour: consequent from the beginning to the end, but not monotonous, because, and that is a paradox, it is capriciously changing moods and has many surprises" - wrote the reviewer of "Rzeczpospolita Daily".
Grzegorzewski and Radziwiłowicz staged "Don Juan" twice: in Poland and in France.

In the 1970 Radziwiłowicz begun the long and close collaboration with Andrzej Wajda, both in film and in theatre. He played, among others, Mishkin in "Nastasia Filipovna" based on Dostoyevsky's "Idiot". He played in the internationally awarded "Man of Marble / Człowiek z marmuru" (1976) and "Man of Iron / Człowiek z żelaza" (1981), films, which became symbols of the reckoning of the times of Stalinism and of a prediction of liberty changes. "The beauty of this exceptional film lies in the complexity of the director's relations to Birkut, this perfectly humble representative of the whole unhappy and alienated epoch" wrote in 1979 Alberto Moravia about Birkut, role played by Radziwilowicz in "Man of Marble / Człowiek z marmuru".
"Birkut, before becoming a Stakhanovite, had these qualities and flaws, which were always an invariable element of humanity, never mind place and time. Under the etiquette of a hero of socialism, the humility and the righteousness make him a real hero. What is the result of this delicate operation? Well, while Stalinism is finally condemned, the socialism as the idea and as utopia seems to be saved."
Four years later Radziwiłowicz plays in another of Wajda's masterpieces, in theatre this time: "Crime and Punishment" basing of Fiodor Dostoyevsky.

A reserved "a perfectionist actor, gifted with intelligence and deep sensitivity": this is how Maciej Karpinski described Radziwilowicz in his book "Andrzej Wajda's Theatre". Truly, Radziwilowicz's acting reveals an important influence of Jerzy Jarocki's school, which he also uses in films: Kieślowski's "Endless / Bez końca" (1984), Stanisław Różewicz's "Door in the Wall / Drzwi w Murze" (1973), Jean-Luc Godard's "Passion" (1982), on the most important Polish stages: the Old Theatre (Stary Teatr) in Krakow and the National Theatre (Teatr Narodowy) in Warsaw and in the French theatre Comédie de Saint-Etienne.

Most important awards:
  • 1977 - the Leon Schiller Award
  • 1985 - the award for the role of Raskolnikov in "Crime and Punishment" at the 25. Theatrical Meeting of Kalisz
  • 1986 - the award for the role of the Doctor "Woyzeck" in the Old Theatre in Krakow at the 26. Theatrical Meeting of Kalisz
  • 1988 - the award for the role of Bartodziej in "Portrait" at the 27. Festival of Polish Contemporary Plays in Wroclaw
  • 1989 - the Silver Cross of Merit
  • 1993 - the Order of Fine Arts and Literature awarded by the French Minister of Culture 1999 - the award of the Section of Theatrical Critics of the Polish ITI Centre for popularisation of Polish theatrical culture abroad
Browsing history




RECENTLY ADDED
"Wciąż masz chamie złoty róg? Wciąż masz chamie czapkę z piór" - works from the exhibition by Wiesław Rosocha
June 5 - June 20, 2009
"Wciąż masz chamie złoty róg? Wciąż masz chamie czapkę z piór" - preview of the exhibition by Wiesław Rosocha
June 4, 2009
Museum of Modern Art in New York will host a screening of Bartek Konopka's Oscar nominated documentary "Rabbit à la Berlin" on February 28.
On February 22, a play by Dorota Masłowska "Miedzy nami dobrze jest" will premiere at Teater Galeasen in Stockholm.
The European Fairy Tale Centre in Pacanów (Świętokrzyskie region) will open on February 24, 2010.
Art from the collection of Kraków's Czartoryski Museum will be on display in the Castle in Niepołomice, starting in spring 2010. This is due to renovation work in the Czartoryski Museum scheduled to end in 2012. Niepołomice Castle will host around 1700 works of art, including paintings by Paolo Veneziano, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Lorenzo Lotto.
On February 12, "The Ghost Writer", the newest film by Roman Polański, will officialy screen at the Berlinale Film Festival. A week later, on February 19, the film will premiere in theaters in Poland, Switzerland, and in the U.S.
On February 10, 2010 in Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Krystian Zimerman will give a Chopin piano recital marking the Chopin Year celebrations in Italy.
The 46th Wrocław Jazz Festival "Jazz nad Odrą" will start on February 28. The festival will last until March 6, 2010. For more info see www.jnofestival.pl.
The 7th edition of "Misteria Paschalia" in Kraków will take place on March 29 - April 5, 2010.
In honor of the Chopin Anniversary Year, 1st Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut, will be held from February 20-21, 2010.
Tchaikovski Gala with Grzegorz Nowak as conductor - London, Cadogan Hall, February 18, 2010.
Krystian Zimerman at Chopin Birthday Concert 1 - London, Royal Festival Hall - Southbank Centre, February 22, 2010.
The 8th Kinoteka Polish Film Festiwal in London opens on March 4 and will last untill April 12, 2010.



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