“The Green Border” by the Polish director received a special award at the 80th Venice Film Festival. The film’s soundtrack included a song by the Gdańsk band Trupa Trupa, which Holland called “her favorite band.”
“I love Trupa Trupa and Grzesiek as a poet. The Headache segment perfectly expressed the energy and freedom of this moment in the film. I hope that I will have the opportunity to meet their music in my film,” comments Agnieszka Holland.
She adds: “I can’t understand – or I can understand – why this group is not as popular in Poland as it deserves.
– We are happy. We have known Agnieszka Holland for many years, I think we understand each other artistically – comments Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, one of the vocalists of the rock and psychedelic band.
The song that was included on the soundtrack to “Zielona Border” is “Headache”, from the album of the same title, released in 2015. Kwiatkowski says that if a survey was conducted, which song would the artists from the Trupa Trupa band consider to be the best in their work, this is what they would choose “Headache”.
– It’s the most radical and, in a way, amazing. I find this piece cathartic. At first it is quiet, idyllic, calm, mysterious, until it turns into hell, howling and screaming – says Kwiatkowski.
Trupa Trupa performed the album “Headache” in August at the Off Festival, organized by Artur Rojek, and now the title song is on the soundtrack to Agnieszka Holland’s film.
– This is a renaissance of an album that we are proud of – adds the vocalist of the Gdańsk band.
In his conversation, Kwiatkowski returns to the soundtrack from “The Green Border” and refers to the criticism that the film received even before its premiere.
– It’s downright amazing and caricatured – comments the musician. – There is full of hatred, violence and contempt. But this means that Agnieszka Holland touched a nerve in society and violated the taboo that we are not only a nation of victims. The problem for Poles is that they have great difficulty accepting responsibility or co-responsibility. Agnieszka Holland hit exactly how easy it is for people to blame everything on others, to clear their bad conscience by hating others.
The interlocutor of “Wyborcza” adds that he would prefer to live in a world where the reception of the film is either positive or negative, but within the framework of a civilized discussion.
Grzegorz Kwiatkowski refers to a Facebook post from the “Teraz Rock” magazine profile, where it was announced that the Polish director received an award in Venice and that Holland praised the Trupa Trupa band, writing on Facebook that they were “the best”.
“Only pigs sit in the cinema – it fits this crap,” comments a former councilor from Gdańsk, associated with the far right. Another man writes: “There was once a bullet in the head for trying to cross the border illegally. Despite everything, this film contributed greatly to our country. They already know what direction not to take when trying to cross the border illegally.” Or: “The next film will be about three thousand Jews murdered by Poles and burned in a barn. In Jedwabne. Then Oscar is a sure thing. There are also memes and GIFs with a satisfied Putin.
– I have never seen such hatred in a discussion under an article by a music medium in my life. 90 percent this is pure anti-Semitic hatred. I’m shocked that it’s so huge. I understand that there are upcoming elections and that people are attacking each other, but I have never experienced anything like this in the music-related space before – adds the musician from Gdańsk.
Grzegorz Kwiatkowski calls Agnieszka Holland one of the “most beautiful people he has ever met.”
– She’s just a good, wise person with a beautiful soul. Apart from the artistic aspect, which I admire greatly, he is one of the best people I know. He is the last person who would despise someone or humiliate someone – assures the artist.
The presence of the Trupa Trupa band is not the only Gdańsk thread related to “The Green Border”. Katarzyna Warzecha, a young director from the Katowice Film School and the Wajda school, was – next to Kamila Tarabura – Holland’s right hand during the shooting of her last film.
Joanna Wiśniowska, Gazeta Wyborcza
