"Seweryn - actor/acteur" - Reviews and opinions
Andrzej Seweryn
Our biggest cinematographic export pride. Baum from “The Promised Land” (“Ziemia Obiecana”), the only Pole in the Comédie Française, the judge in “Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania”. Polish-French film “Seweryn – actor/acteur” is an intricate study on artist’s personality, enriched with comments from among others Andrzej Wajda, Jacek Kuroń, and also actor’s daughter actress Maria Seweryn.
(roma) "Antena" No. 46, 15th November 1999
– I still think that this profession has a certain mission to fulfill – says Andrzej Seweryn.
– He treats his profession with somberness – confirms Andrzej Wajda It was already that way in student times, which made his friends mock at him. – He had such an attitude of a grind – recalls Piotr Cieślak a friend from PWST (Theatre Academy). It has always been like that because the artist tries to take all his chances. Being 30 he had managed to learn fluent French. No one who’s commenting on Andrzej Seweryn has any doubt that he isn’t a perfectionist. Born in Heilbronn in 1946 he spent his childhood in Warsaw. Jacek Kuroń remembers him as a 12 year old walterowiec (a member of a youth organization similar to scouts). He got into acting because of Stanisława Celińska with whom he later attended theatrical classes in Palace of Youth (Pałac Młodzieży). He was in fourth year of his studies when he was arrested in connection with riots which broke out after famous Kazimierz Dejmek’s “Dziady” were taken off. After graduating he had played for 12 years in Warsaw Teatr Ateneum. The role in Andrzej Wajda’s “The Promised Land” was a good career start. In 1980 Andrzej Seweryn left with Witkacy’s play “Oni” (“They”) for Paris. The imposition of the martial law found him there. New theatre life has begun for him, at the beginning by Peter Brook’s side during the work on „Mahabharata”. In 1993 Jacques Lassalle enrolled Andrzej Seweryn to the Comédie Française. The actor did well in the classic French repertoire. The audience often receives his performances with standing ovation. He is a sculptor who has sculptured his own countenance in the stone – says a French critic who observes Seweryn’s acting. In the film produced by Wojciech Michera based on the script of Anna Schiller de Schildenfeld we can also see a different Seweryn – human being – father, husband, colleague, and friend. Maybe that’s why this story is so fascinating.
Małgorzata Piwowar, "Rzeczpospolita" No. 47, 19th-25th November 1999