From today, Polish cinemas will be able to watch the film “Lee. On My Own Eyes”, telling the story of the life of the famous model, photographer and war correspondent of the magazine “Vogue”, Lee Miller. The main role in the film is played by Kate Winslet, and she is accompanied by, among others, Alexander Skarsgård and Marion Cotillard. Interestingly, the director and cinematography are the responsibility of… Poles. Paweł Edelman is an outstanding Polish cinematographer, while the American director Ellen Kuras has Polish roots.
The director of the film “Lee. Na swoim oczy” Ellen Kuras feels 100% Polish. Her surname used to be Kuraś, but in her family home only her grandmother and grandfather spoke Polish, which is why the creator knows only a few words and phrases, such as “idź śpij”, “dzień dobry” or “niedostytucznie”. Her paternal grandmother came from the Tarnów area, and her grandfather was born near Rzeszów. – Our family never understood why they did it [wyjechali do Stanów – przyp. red.]. My grandmother lived in the countryside, one day she came to my mother and announced that she was going to America. The next day she got on the train, alone, and went. It was similar with my grandfather – he sailed overseas to earn money. He kept repeating that he missed his homeland and wanted to return to Poland. He missed the meadows and forests. But it was a decision from which there was no turning back. The communist regime had just taken power in Poland – said Ellen Kuras in an interview for “Polityka”.
Kate Winslet and Ellen Kuras on the set of “Lee. Eyewitness” (Photo: Monolith Films press materials)
Ellen even wanted to study at the Łódź Film School, but due to the difficult political situation in the country at the time (it was 1981, the time of martial law), she could not come here. – It’s a huge shame, because at that time it was the best film school in the world – said Ellen in an interview for “Dzień Dobry TVN”.
Kuras met Paweł Edelman, an outstanding Polish cinematographer, only while working on the film “Lee. Na oczy”, although earlier various filmmakers had suggested to them in unofficial conversations that they were a great match and that they would definitely work well together. Ellen really wanted to make a film with Paweł, especially since she knew and admired his earlier work with Andrzej Wajda on “Katyń” and with Roman Polański in films such as “The Pianist” and “Rzeź”. That is why when producer and leading actress Kate Winslet suggested to Ellen to direct the film “Lee. Na oczy”, she immediately remembered Edelman. “Paweł is not only a talented and inventive cinematographer, but he also has great sensitivity and intuition. And apart from that, he is a wonderful person. We got along great. He is my Polish brother”, Kuras said in an interview for Monolith Films. Paweł Edelman also has nothing but kind words for the director: “The fact that Ellen is also a cinematographer helped a lot, we often understood each other without words.”
Ellen Kuras and Paweł Edelman on the set of the film “Lee. Na oczy” (Photo: Monolith Films press materials)
Paweł Edelman was nominated for an Oscar for his cinematography in Roman Polański’s “The Pianist”. This film also brought him a César, the European Film Academy Award and the PNF (Polish Film Award) Orzeł. Edelman has also won film awards for films such as “Pan Tadeusz”, “Kroniki domu”, “Kroll” and “Katyń”. He has worked with Andrzej Wajda, Jerzy Stuhr, Władysław Pasikowski, Taylor Hackford and Steve Zaillian. In turn, Ellen Kuras, a film director and cinematographer, received an Emmy Award and an Oscar and Spirit Award nomination for her directorial debut, the documentary “Zdrada”. She is the author of cinematography for films by Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, Michael Gondry, Sam Mendes, Rebecca Miller and Martin Scorsese. She also worked on popular series (“Ozark”, “Who is Anna?”, “The Umbrella Academy”).
The action of the film “Lee. With Your Own Eyes” begins in 1938. Lee Miller (Kate Winslet), a popular model and artists’ muse, tries her hand at photography. In a world dominated by men, she has to prove her worth every day. She does not want to deal only with fashion and photographing beautiful interiors. She has a great talent for extracting the truth about human life in images and establishing an extraordinary understanding with the heroes of her photographs, especially women. When Europe is immersed in the nightmare of World War II, Miller does not want to watch it from a safe distance. She goes to the front, to show the world the tragic truth about the human dimension of war as a war correspondent for British “Vogue”. As one of the first photographers, she sees up close the sacrifice of soldiers, the suffering of civilians and the nightmare of German concentration camps.
“Lee. Through Your Eyes” in cinemas from September 13.