Binoche in Warsaw: photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk
Oscar-winning French actress Binoche graced a gala première in Warsaw last night of Sponsoring, a new film by Małgorzata Szumowska.
But Binoche is best remembered in Poland for her starring role in Blue, the first part of the Three Colours trilogy, by the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski (1941-1996).
In an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza, Binoche said that she rejected an offer from Steven Spielberg to appear in Jurassic Park in order to work with Kieslowski.
“Krzysztof’s greatness was not in the way he analysed his characters, their intellectual skills or emotions but in a very special rhythm of story telling,” she said.
Her new film, Sponsoring, is joint Polish-French-German production, and tells the story of Anne (portrayed by Binoche), a successful journalist of a well-known periodical, married, with two sons, who researches the world of student prostitution.
A meeting with two student prostitutes, one of whom has arrived to Paris from Poland, compels her to look at her life and femininity from a different perspective.
Binoche told a press conference in Warsaw that the key question posed by the film concerns the nature of love.
Her words were echoed by Małgorzata Szumowska, the director, who said that ‘Sponsoring’ is not about prostitution but about every human being’s longing for love and close interpersonal relationships in a world which is obsessed with consumption.
“My film is a cry for closeness in human relationships,” she said.
Referring to the critical comments that some of the scenes in ‘Sponsoring’ border on pornography, Szumowska said that the erotic scenes are as realistic as they can be, and “this is how they should be filmed”.
Binoche described Szumowska as a “great director”, adding that she would love to work with her again some time.
Sponsoring premièred in Paris ten days ago (under the title ‘Elles’) and has already been sold to over thirty countries and goes on general release in Poland on 17 February. (mk/pg)