Rostropovich said I insulted the Russians. Isabel Adjani called the work of Andrzej Zulawski “emotional pornography”. After the release of “The Devil” he was kicked out of Poland, the shooting of “On a Silver Planet” was stopped and only 10 years later Zulawski will be able to edit his great unfinished film. Almost no film by Andrzej Zulawski was not without attacks from the press or the public.
In 1989, Andrzej Zulawski undertook to bring to the screen Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov. After watching the footage, Mstislav Rostropovich tried in a Paris court to accuse the director of insulting the Russian soul. Rostropovich lost the trial, but demanded to include in the opening credits of Boris Godunov a mention that he does not approve of this film adaptation.
The action of the tragedy of Pushkin, on the basis of which Mussorgsky’s opera was written, took place from 1597 to 1604 – the death of Ivan the Terrible, the reign of Boris Godunov and the beginning of the Troubles in Russia. Andrzej Zulawski saw in Mussorgsky’s opera a parallel with the history of the USSR, or rather the socialist camp as a whole: “It was important for me to show that the Pushkin drama that inspired Mussorgsky resembles Shakespeare’s most brutal plays, that it discusses the ideological problems that occupy us today, and with a quite modern passion.”
Indeed, the decorations of Russia of the XVII century are combined with Soviet automatic towers. According to Andrzej Zhulavsky, the death of Ivan the Terrible echoes the death of the authoritarian socialist regime of the 1940-1950s, and the reign of Boris Godunov marked an ideological “thaw” that sowed the seeds for the coming authoritarian reaction. A separate mention in the film deserves the figure of Vasily Shuisky, shown as a calculating courtier, who first elevated Boris Godunov, and then summoned foreign interventionists and stabbed the tsar in the back, as it was with some rulers in socialist countries.
As in The Third Part of the Night and Obsessed, Andrzej Zulawski uses the twin motif. Yurodivoy and Grigory Otrepiev are played by the same actor. This is symbolic, since Yurodivy was the first to publicly accuse Boris Godunov of the murder of Tsarevich Dmitry, and Grigory Otrepev assumed the guise of Tsarevich Dmitry and took the throne after the murder of Boris Godunov. Also, one actor plays the murdered Tsarevich Dmitry Uglichsky and Tsar Fedor II Godunov.
The director, as in his previous productions, very freely dealt with genre rules and templates. In the opera production of Andrzej Zhulavsky, the heroes perform their parts while running, the scenery of Russia of the XVII century are similar to avant-garde creations, the blood is sometimes painted blue. Periodically, the opera panoramas intersect with the filming technique and types of the orchestra and from time to time the performers directly appeal to the audience.
Unlike most classical opera productions, Andrzej Zulawski did not hesitate to show blood and violence. This is in full accordance with his staged philosophy, which does not allow any attempts to retouch the real story. Why try to escape the real story or whitewash it? The history of Russia of the XVII century was associated with many bloody events and it is necessary to take it in its original form.
The recently deceased Mr. Andrzej Zulawski once again filmed the controversial production. This is not the Russophobic burp of the world-angry psychopath, as some critics have called it, this is his author’s view of history and literature. Andrzej Zulawski was too smart and developed to suffer from primitive stereotypical phobias. Discard your stereotypes and try to preserve the legacy of Andrzej Žulawski by watching and analyzing his films.