从电影《飘浮的摩天楼》看俄波开放度的差异
难道是波兰电影在世界体系之外创造了一种新的符号？当然不是，不过，当看完93分钟的《 飘浮的摩天楼》之后，我还是对它带来的信息十分好奇。
《飘浮的摩天楼》讲述了一位20多岁游泳运动员的同性爱故事，作为波兰第一部同性恋电影，它高超的艺术性和堪比西方的开放度都令人刮目相看，如果再与相邻的同属原共产党集团的俄国相比，真有天壤之别。
俄国尽管在1993年把同性恋非犯罪化，1999年把同性恋排除于精神病之外，但却在2013年制定了反同性恋法案，法案禁止向未成年人宣传同性恋，同时还规定不得“形成传统和非传统的性关系有平等社会意义”的扭曲观念，不得“鼓吹非传统的性关系，进而诱发对此种关系的兴趣”。俄罗斯人权活动人士认为，这一法案使国家一步退到了中世纪。另一种声音认为俄国已经比20年前进步了很多，那时同性恋是真正的禁忌话题。
据报道，俄列瓦达中心的民调显示大多数俄罗斯人对同性恋者怀有敌意，只有4%对同性恋者持正面看法，62%的民众称坚决反对同性恋者举行公开的游行活动。此外，34%的俄罗斯人认为同性恋是一种疾病，23%认为同性恋是因为教育偏差或不守纪律导致的一种习惯，只有16%认为性倾向是天生的，同性恋应当拥有与异性恋同样的权利。
俄罗斯的同性恋争议还令国际社会对将在那里举办冬季奥运会发出了杯葛的呼吁。
而在两年前的2011年，波兰人民已经选出了首位变性国会议员安娜·格罗兹卡和首位同性恋国会议员罗伯特·毕德隆，现在波兰人民又在欣赏国内著名演员Mateusz Banasiuk主演的同性恋电影，这部电影在今年7月获得在波兰城市弗罗茨瓦夫（Wrocław）举行的新地平线电影节（New Horizons Film Festival）观众最喜爱电影大奖，而这在俄罗斯是不可思议的事情。
附纽约翠贝卡电影节对演员Mateusz Banasiuk的访问：
Tribeca Talks: ‘Floating Skyscrapers’ Actor Mateusz Banasiuk Discusses Artistic Fragility and the Kaleidoscope of Human Actions and Consequences Present throughout the Film
May 12th, 2013
Rarely are there films that stay with the viewer long after they’ve left the movie theater. Floating Skyscrapers (Płynące Wieżowce), the thought-provoking and emotionally intensive film from Polish filmmaker Tomasz Wasilewski, is one that continues to frequent ones thoughts weeks after having seen it. The scenes echo in one’s mind like a voice in a large hollow cave, prompting a reassessment of the film and its rawness but also of oneself and common social beliefs.
However, though half the credit for the film’s success is certainly due to the impeccable filmmaking style, direction and writing of Wasilewski, the film wouldn’t be nearly as powerful and evocative without its actors, and especially without the leading role of actor Mateusz Banasiuk, who plays the indecisive and emotionally conflicted Kuba with pure genuineness and understanding for his character (a rarity in Polish cinema when focused in on the feelings of homosexual characters, the ever-present theme in this film).
Banasiuk is no stranger to the camera. He has starred in countless popular television shows and theatre productions in Poland; however, Floating Skyscrapers is one of his first major roles in a film, and one that is surely not only going to provoke bountiful conversation among its viewers but also showcase his ability to take on tough character roles, both emotionally and physically. As Kuba, Banasiuk shows us through his natural agility that one’s actions, whether intentionally or not, can easily hurt those around us, and therefore, decisions and emotions should be handled with care. Furthermore, wearing his role like a second skin, he delivers a resonating and flawless performance that trickles into the core of the viewer’s subconscious, leaving one curious as to what we can expect from him next.
Though busy with his role in the theatre production of The Force of Habit: A Comedy by Thomas Bernhard at the Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw, Poland, and without any real rest between flying to and from the Tribeca Film Festival, on a Saturday morning, the talented young actor took the time to speak to GALO about the difficulties of his role as Kuba, his swim training for the film, why he preferred that the role of Michał was given to Bartosz Gelner, and his understanding for the actions of his character.
GALO: You’re a young actor at the beginning of your career. You chose a very controversial role. Are you not afraid that a large amount of audiences in Poland will view the character in a negative way due in large part to his sexual orientation?
Mateusz Banasiuk: It’s not really that I chose the role, but rather the role chose me. I could have either accepted it, or I could have not agreed to take the role.
A few of my friends, when they found out what the film is about, they didn’t come to the casting. I went to the casting and I liked what [the filmmaker], Tomasz Wasilewski, was saying; I read the screenplay, which really captured my interest… Even now, when a few articles have shown up in Poland in relation to our film, harsh comments concerning the homosexual society have shown up on the forums that accompany them. And I know that I will have to confront it. Truthfully, nothing is really yet known. On one hand, this film might provoke a lot of discussion, it might elicit a lot of aggression, rebellion from different people, and it might also produce some changes in this country [Poland]. But on the other hand, it might be quite possible that nothing will change; that this film is one out of many — someone’s voice that’s not recognized by anyone. Therefore, it is hard to foretell what will happen in this country after a few months. Nevertheless, there really is little tolerance for some type of otherness here in [Poland], something that isn’t known to the people, and unfortunately, there is a grand amount of aggression. I hope that I will not have to come to know this.
GALO: Personally, I really liked the film, much like a lot of the festival audience; therefore, I hope that in Poland it will be viewed in a positive light. But I do have my concerns in regard to this because, unfortunately, Poland isn’t as tolerant a place as New York is.
MB: Fortunately, I live in Warsaw — Warsaw is the most laid back [city]. In Warsaw, people usually don’t come up to individuals who they recognize from television, but when you go to smaller cities, then there is indeed quite a lot of interest concerning the people involved in the media/entertainment world. If people like you then they perceive you in a positive way — for instance, I star in a popular show in Poland, and people do end up coming up to me and associating me with the character I play, and most likely if I played a negative type of character, then I would probably receive all sorts of negative comments and some type of negative behavior from those people. But currently I receive all positive feedback. When it comes to a film though, its reach is less significant than that of a television show.
GALO: You knew Bartosz Gelner, the actor who plays the role of Michał, before the film. How long have you two known each other for?
MB: About three years, maybe four.
GALO: And did the fact that you two are friends help you in playing this difficult role, or on the contrary, it dissuaded you? After all, a friendship between two men is essentially something different than the feeling that binds the two main characters of the film.
MB: I have a lot of friends, a lot of good friends, with whom I wouldn’t have wanted to play this character. Indeed, Bartek is the type of person that I felt was right for the role of Michał, and the type of person that I felt I could find the courage to perform those kinds of scenes with. I think that Bartek also felt comfortable with me. We trust each other; we know each other well… I think that when it comes to that type of intimacy between two men who aren’t homosexual, that it required us to overcome something within ourselves, but I think that when it comes to us actors, it would seem we are a bit more tolerant, a bit more sensitive — of course, not everyone — and we have the barrier of touching already overstepped in relation to other people, the same can be said for the barrier of nudity. I am happy that it was Bartek and not someone else. I really don’t know what it would have been like to act with someone else. With Bartek we had been able to create a certain type of connection; he is a good actor and I am happy that it was him I was able to act alongside with. And not only because we had previously known each other, but because those acting energies are somehow close to one another.
GALO: You swim quite well, as seen in various scenes throughout the film. Did you ever train as an athlete or is swimming just your hobby?
MB: When it comes to swimming, I’ve trained since I was a child, although never athletically, more so recreationally. Later, I started training to become a lifeguard, and for a little while I was a young lifeguard; however, when it comes to the swimming technique, it is quite different than athletic or professional swimming.
[In the film] I was a typical athletic swimmer, where efficiency plays an important role. Undeniably, I had to train a lot for this film with a personal trainer, who had to improve or rather perfect my swimming technique, because just like with everything else, film is evolving, theater is evolving and the sport industry is moving forward too. I wanted to be in the now, and I wanted to perform all the swimming scenes. Generally speaking, I really like sports. And so I immediately told Tomasz [Wasilewski] that I want to perform all those scenes; that I will be able to do so and that I will be able to tweak and develop my skills to the level of standard expected by him…because before I started training for this film, I sort of neglected swimming and the swimming pool. I went swimming sporadically, and unfortunately, one falls out of the expected form. And so I remember when I was at the first training, the trainer gave me such a hard workout that I felt nauseous at one point, but as time went on, my form began to improve, my body began to change, and my technique began to change, my performance. But I admit that having swum from an early age certainly helped things along.
GALO: Was the film director looking for an actor with such skills or were the scenes added in after having hired you for the role of Kuba?
MB: No, no, the film director was already looking for someone who could swim. Only, he [laughter] approached the subject matter rather nonchalantly, basically with bravado, because during the casting he was only asking the actors if they can swim. During my time as an actor, I’ve come across certain actors who claim that they can swim, ride a horse, or, I don’t know, they can do other things quite excellently, but then when it comes down to things, unfortunately the validation and truth comes out very quickly.
I actually met Bartek Gelner during the filming of the [Polish] TV show Przystan, where we both played lifeguards, and there we had a casting for our acting [capabilities] but also a casting in a swimming pool to test our ability to swim. Several actors didn’t make it after that swimming casting, but we made it through and got the roles. With Floating Skyscrapers (Płynące Wieżowce), Tomasz [Wasilewski] didn’t test my skills out in the swimming pool; therefore, he didn’t really know if I swim well, or if I don’t swim at all, and if I would be able to quickly make up for the lack in [sport swimming technique]. And there was one guy, who was supposed to play my competitor, and who had also claimed that he swam well…but when we met with the trainers, they said that it is impossible to make a professional swimmer out of him in four months, and so, unfortunately, Tomasz had to put someone else in his place. It really worked out well for me though. I was able to improve my swimming technique, I trained hard, and I even recently won the Polish Actors’ Swimming Championships in all the disciplines [laughs].
GALO: Which scenes in the film caused you the most difficulty?
MB: At the end of the film, the whole situation begins to get thicker and deeper, and my character has more on his mind and it becomes harder for him. Obviously, chronologically the scenes were the toughest; however, we didn’t film them chronologically. Clearly, the realities are what they are, in the sense that one has to act different scenes at different times, meaning what is being asked of us on a given day. The first days were the hardest, in other words the scenes that I had at home with my [on-screen] mother, and this was like being thrown out onto the deep end of the water from the very start; there were a lot of tough scenes, lots of dialogue, the purpose or sense of the beginning at the end… And I knew that once I would have that first week behind me that it would be a little easier, although I really had new challenges, new tough scenes — and not just those which were tough technically, those that took place in the swimming pool and required full concentration, but I had a lot of hard acting scenes. I don’t know which was the most important; I really did have a vast amount of acting scenes in this film — a magnitude of tough scenes. Generally speaking, this film was a difficult assignment for me.
GALO: Do you prefer to act in theatre or in films? Many actors claim that the direct contact with the audience, their instant reaction or the lack of one, is priceless to them; it is something that sets free the hidden capabilities in actors.
MB: Of course, I agree with this, starring in a film is a totally different kind of joy ride than performing in theatre — I am actually starring in a play tonight entitled The Force of Habit: A Comedy by Thomas Bernhard at the Ateneum Theatre [in Warsaw], and I really like it. You know, these actors who you just cited in general terms, I think that they didn’t have the given means to be on the type of film plan that I had been, because it is something positively extraordinary; the rehearsals that I had before this film took a lot of my time… Aside from that, I had the leading role, and so I felt that the entire film plan, everybody — the film director, the film operator — that everything was being done for my comfort and that everyone was working for me…not for me, for Kuba, but in some sense for a little while I became Kuba. And actually, for me films are the most important, because a film is made from time to time, while an actor lives in the theatre on an everyday basis.
GALO: Personally, I miss going to the Polish theatre. Seldom do productions fly in from Poland to places like New York City.
MB: Well, I haven’t been to the United States yet with a production, maybe I will be able to come to the States with a play. I have a couple of great plays, among which is Zaklęte Rewiry, based off old Polish cinema with a young Marek Kondrat (who was just beginning his career), and I am playing the role that was Marek Kondrat’s in the film. It is being shown in the theatre for the first time and it is really being noticed and acknowledged. I really think that the production is interesting for the audience, not just for the critics [laughs].
GALO: What is your attitude toward your main character, toward the way he acts? It seems that he is lacking in the ability to come to a decision, he doesn’t know who he would like to be with. He lets fate decide for him.
MB: Yeah, he is very lost and has problems with making a decision; I think you described that ideally. What is my attitude towards him…Well, I really understand him. I think I too am, in various situations and moments in life, as indecisive as him, especially in such key situations like the one he finds himself in. He is in a very tough place. You see everything that is around him, his whole life, and then take that and erase it, turn it completely upside down and let the emotions take precedent… A person in a situation like that has many thoughts: will it turn out to be the right decision, what will happen after and how will everybody react? It all keeps piling up and bringing with it more doubts, remorse — a sort of negation. It is something that just keeps growing and multiplying, and in such a moment it is hard to come to a decision, so I completely understand him.
I have 100 percent trust in my character, Kuba, and the fact that perhaps he isn’t fair to the character of Sylwia, I really understand where he is coming from because he is simply scared. And when a person is scared, they often act illogically or irrationally. It is easy to judge someone like that but it is hard to find yourself in their skin — I don’t wish it on anybody. I would like for people to have a pleasant life, even though such moments often give rise to the feeling that you’re really alive and living; tough moments in life make one appreciate the good moments. Therefore, an actor also needs such stimulus in his or her life to be richer, to have something to draw from. I understand him. I don’t know if I like him or not…actually, I think I do.
GALO: What are your plans for the near future? Is there a role that you would like to definitely play someday?
MB: No, there isn’t any role that I would like to definitely play. I want to make good cinema, I do not want to limit myself in any way — whether it might be a comedy, a drama, [laughter] a horror or thriller, I just want to make good cinema and that’s it. I want to make great films with great film directors; directors who will listen to me, who will understand me, and who will want to do something more in-depth and not tell only stories that are simple and shallow.
GALO: And would you want to work with Tomasz Wasilewski again?
MB: [Laughter] Of course, I would really like to work with Tomasz again. But what the film Floating Skyscrapers (Płynące Wieżowce) showed us is that a lot of older, respected actors are able to star in a film by the young Tomasz Wasilewski, and with much smaller roles. One can see that actors do want to act in his films and that actors value him and like him, such as [Mirosław] Zbrojewicz, who is a great actor, or Kasia Herman and Iza Kuna…they devote their time, act for smaller money than they normally get, so there must be something about him.
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