A total of 106 shooting days in various parts of the country and abroad. 120 characters that viewers will see in the series; film crew of 140 people and 3,000 extras. In addition, working in difficult and exhausting conditions in winter, or during the production of underwater scenes shot in the most modern and adapted Lites Water Stage & Film Studios in Brussels.
In Poland, work on set in Szczecin, Świnoujście, Gdynia, Sopot, Warsaw and Gdańsk. “Heweliusz” by Jan Holoubek is described as the largest and most technically complex Polish TV series production in recent years. And the cast includes a galaxy of Polish stars.
Two of the main male roles are played by Borys Szyc and Konrad Eleryk.
Katarzyna Ulman, Interia: “Heweliusz” is one of the most anticipated premieres this fall and one of the largest Polish productions.
Borys Szyc: I was stunned by this idea – I had already seen set designs and models. I also received materials shot by Captain Ułasiewicz. I started digging into it all – with “mayday”. This was our starting point – a recording on the Internet where the captain says “mayday” and it is known that the ship is sinking. This also became the theme of this series. Extremely strong (…)
How did you build your characters? Andrzej Ułasiewicz has his own prototype, Witold Skirmuntt is a combination of several characters and motifs.
Konrad Eleryk: Witold Skirmuntt is actually a combination of two characters. On the one hand, the events that took place on the ship were taken, and on the other, people – more private life. I build the role as I always do – I sit with a notebook and create something. I also had materials about the two people I mentioned. Reports. But actually, all this work was created by me. I sit down and come up with this whole genesis, i.e. – where does man come from? Who are his parents? What were they doing? What did he do as a kid when he met his wife? I draw these relationships, so it wasn’t much different from how I normally work. However, being aware that this is a real situation, history, real people, this responsibility is a bit different (…)
Borys Szyc: It was a bit different for me. I was lucky that I could talk to my family and I had additional materials where I could see the hero – how he talks and how he moves. Later I listened to the stories of Mrs. Jolanta Ułasiewicz and Agnieszka, the captain’s wife and daughter. What he was like, what he liked, how he addressed them. We picked up tidbits, his sayings and so on. Also, as Konrad says, I felt this responsibility. The captain went down with that ship and I knew his beloved women would be watching, so I wanted to pay tribute to him. I wanted them to believe; for them to be the first viewers to say – that was my husband, that was my dad. That’s what happened. I have a message from them, now after some time, very moving, I even sent it to Janek Holoubek with the comment that moments like these are worth doing what we do.
“Heweliusz” is not only a series about a catastrophe and tragic events. It is also a courtroom drama and the story of all the people who later had to deal with this tragedy in their everyday lives. What does the story of “Hevelius” mean to you?
Borys Szyc: For me, it is a multi-layered story, which is why it is so universal. It’s a bit like Shakespeare – we have all the ingredients of a great tragedy here. We have fate, unpredictable chance, however we define it in life. We have forces of nature that humans cannot cope with, they are completely defenseless against them. We have power, betrayal, love. There are all these ingredients that make this story extremely universal, and the setting of the action on a ship from the very beginning makes everyone want to see what it was like. It’s based on facts, so everything creates an absolutely multi-layered story.
Konrad Eleryk: I think Borys has exhausted the topic and it’s hard to add anything. It is interesting how a person behaves in situations in which he can never predict how he would behave. How people deal with it, how families and friends deal with it. How do state institutions react to this? How suddenly the relationship between them changes – who does this man become at the moment of disaster for such an institution; what family becomes for her; what is most important to them then. Everything works out here (…) It is sometimes said that you really get to know another person in extreme situations, not in everyday small-talk. This is interesting.
The Jan Heweliusz ferry disaster was one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Polish civil shipping, which remained in the memory of Poles for a long time. The series “Heweliusz” is intended to tell their story with respect; present a story about loss and mourning and the fight for justice with the state in a way that does not harm the good name of the people on whose fate the plot is based.
See also: The most famous series of recent years. He will talk about the tragedy that shocked Poland