Source: Nowy Dziennik [Polish Daily News] weekend supplement Przeglad Polski [Polish Review] from Friday May 15, 1998
The Film: "Pulaski": To Give Life to a Legend
An Interview with Andrzej Pastuszek by Regina Gorzkowska
[Note: Photograph of A. Pastuszek by Czeslaw Czaplinski]Question: How did the idea of creating the feature film "Pulaski" come about?
Answer: "Pulaski" has been my passion for two years. Now that the greatest endeavor in Polish culture has become a fact, I think that it was fate that chose me for this project.My two sons and daughter, who were born here in America, often would come back from school embittered because to the other children they are "only Polish." Be proud of that I tell them. To be Polish means a lot, after all there's Kosciuszko and Pulaski! I made a decision and decided to devote myself to making our legend, General Pulaski, live again. For he is a hero who transcends the epoch, something which the official history does not always want to remember. Count Pulaski shed his blood for a nation that was being born. He fought like no one else, by himself, against thousands, staying a knight of honor to the end. He came seeking a new homeland and died for it.
Q: We remember you as an outstanding writer of your generation; an author of many screenplays (six feature films, several documentaries) four volumes of prose, dramas etc. In one moment you disappeared from sight? What happened in that time?
A: I was always a writer strongly connected to the so-called real life. I was never able to sit at a desk and imagine --I had to live things out.
Shortly after my arrival in America in 1981 (it was an official six month visit for the purpose of propagating Polish culture) martial law was declared in Poland. A warrant was put out for my arrest, and my book "When a Poet Dies" was taken off the printing press by the military authorities. I decided to remain permanently in the United States. I received political asylum and had to become a writer of my second homeland. To become acquainted with this new country I left the Polish community and departed from New York. America, after all, is its people and I would have to create for them, but I first would have to know them. I settled in northern California among gold prospectors. There I married a Polish woman, the poet Anna Morton, and my first son was born in Redding. We lived in the mountains in a cabin without a telephone or electricity. I forgot that I was a writer. In turn I became: a prospector, a lumberjack, and heavy equipment operator. After two years we moved to Los Angeles. For a short time I was a cook to the famous Bob Hope, then a building contractor. I built homes in the desert. My second son, Attis, and daughter, Lilith, were born in Loma Linda in southern California. After ten difficult but adventure-filled years we departed for Colorado. There I started dealing in dinosaur bones (the best specimens are in my collection) and then in selling antiques. I went around the country looking for exceptional pieces of furniture and then selling them at antique shows. I did not make big money but I got to know America. Three years ago fate put us in Utah. There I returned to writing. First I wrote the screenplay "Mutt" [or "Mongrel"] about crimes committed by communists. Now, [I am working on] "Pulaski." I have cooperation from Poland, while the chief of cinematography Tadeusz Scibor-Rylski guaranteed Polish distribution and the first million dollars for the production of the film.
Q: How to make the myth of Pulaski come alive? What is your idea?
A: Pulaski must be portrayed in a historically accurate fashion, but he has to be set in an exciting story. My wife is the co-author of the screenplay; she is a poet and a historian with a special gift for discovering the secrets of the past. For two years we have been studying related materials -- dozens of books. The screenplay is being constantly improved and corrected. Up until now Pulaski had not been portrayed as a man of blood and bone. What did he think, what did he feel, who did he love, how did he suffer? This is the great unknown. We want to show Pulaski, for the first time, as a man like ourselves. And at the same time show the tragedy of the emigree -- something that we emigrants know well.
To give life to the legend, to create a world-class work, a great film about a great man -- this is the work for many. More and more patriots are joining the effort, declaring their readiness to help. And all believe in eventual success.
In addition, for me, this film is not an event on the political plane. Two nations, by properly displaying a common son, have a chance to grow nearer as never before. Because real friendship between nations cannot be made through treaties and pacts. Only the consciousness of brotherhood and a common ground can connect us in a lasting way. The heroic symbols of this are Pulaski and Kosciuszko who always live in Polish and American memory.
Persons interested in this project may contact:
Pulaski Film Production
P.O. Box 203
Springdale, UT 84767
tel: (455) 772-2295, fax: (435) 772-3778.