Anna Korcz and her travels
We meet Anna Korcz, the well-known stage, film and TV actress, in Pomiechówek. At the end of a dead-end road leading into a dense Mazovian forest lie 5.5 hectares of beauty and greenery. This is "Zacisze" in Pomiechówek. A stylish glass pavilion is used for weddings and other gatherings. There is a beach on the River Wkra, kayaks and a playground. Before we start talking about travel, we reminisce about the old days, as we grew up on the same housing estate in Warsaw's Mokotów district.
justKowalski: Is it easy for an actor to plan their free time? I have the impression that it's hard to make decisions in advance.
Anna Korcz: It's a bit of a myth that an actor's life is unpredictable. I often get my theatre and film work schedule a year in advance. I'm also rarely caught out by unforeseen situations, such as a colleague on the same production falling ill. Besides, we try to plan understudies and stand-ins in advance too. The only thing you can't predict is a pregnancy (laughs).
justKowalski: So what do your holidays look like?
Anna Korcz: I used to travel with my two daughters, who are now grown up. Now the three of us travel together, with our son Jaś. Sometimes a group of friends joins us. I'll let you in on a secret. I'm soon going to be a grandmother. I'm already factoring the arrival of my grandchild into my holiday plans.
justKowalski: How do you plan your trips?
Anna Korcz: We usually do it ourselves. After all, there are apps you can use, the world is open, we have credit cards. Sometimes we buy tickets through a travel agency. It's hard to get lost in today's world. I don't like all-inclusive holidays. I feel cheated there: the drinks are watered down, juices aren't served in bottles but from dispensers, and so on. I think that if you opt for all-inclusive, you have to choose top-end resorts. The only one I remember fondly is a stay in Belek in Turkey, where I stayed in a large holiday complex: I had a villa, others stayed in the hotel. Together we had access to something like 7 swimming pools, everything was five-star. I spent three weeks there and it was great. Later I stayed at lower-end resorts, hence the disappointment that has lasted to this day.
justKowalski: I remember your role in "Operacja Samum". While making the film, did you get a chance to experience a bit of the exotic and the places where it is set?
Anna Korcz: Firstly, the film is set in Iraq, but we shot it in Turkey. Secondly, it was 19 years ago. We got to taste a lot of Turkish food, which was served to us every day. Now Turkey looks different, and I would be bolder about the idea of getting around on my own in a foreign country, especially a Muslim one. We spent only 1 day in Istanbul, and most of the time in Adana, in southern Turkey. Between locations some of the crew flew, but I, like Marek Kondrat, chose to travel by coach. Thanks to that, I saw a lot of the real, non-touristy Turkey, because before that I had only been to Cappadocia.
justKowalski: Didn't the characters you played and the periods in which the stories are set make you want to go to those places or experience those times for yourself?
Anna Korcz: To be honest, it was often exactly the other way round. It would turn out that my character was in a place I had already visited and experienced. That helped me. I'm glad I've already seen so many places in my life.
justKowalski: Which countries do you remember most fondly?
Anna Korcz: Without a doubt, the most beautiful was Canada. I had the feeling that in many places no human foot had ever trodden. I could live there, even though they have only 2 warm months, and how I love the sun. For 3 weeks we travelled from one end of the country to the other, visiting 5 cities along the way. The United States is probably richer and better organised, but Canada has a human scale.
justKowalski: Has any other country won you over?
Anna Korcz: Another country I could live in, although it isn't quite as beautiful, is Japan. If you could move Japanese culture to Canada, that would be ideal. Japanese respect for people, good manners, gentleness and modesty, the quiet and the cleanliness suit me very well. I don't like it when someone accosts me, pulls me somewhere or pushes me. That doesn't happen in Japan, whether we're talking about people at the top of the hierarchy or ordinary workers. People don't talk on the phone on the underground, in restaurants or on trains: they lower their voices so as not to disturb anyone. There are no rubbish bins, because everyone is responsible for their own rubbish and takes it home with them. Although the Japanese struggle with learning foreign languages, they always try to help. On the other hand, there is quite a lot of ugliness there, a lot of densely packed buildings, with masses of cables running along the outside of buildings. The architecture is not of the highest order; even the temples are very similar to one another and not very attractive.
justKowalski: Any disappointments on your travels, perhaps?
Anna Korcz: I try not to have expectations. I accept reality as it is. But it's true that I have very little tolerance for rubbish and dirt. From my family home I remember a rather harsh but telling saying that "poverty doesn't have to stink". Just as you don't need to be educated to be cultured and a good person, you don't need to wear designer clothes, but you can be clean and well groomed. Dirt and rubbish always put me in a bad mood. To the point that I start to wonder about the quality of the human race. I don't like cooking, but I do like cleaning, and I expect the same cleanliness from others. I live in a beautiful place, in Pomiechówek on the River Wkra, and whenever I come back from a long walk I bring a bag of rubbish I've collected along the way, left behind by other people. It worries me, here and everywhere else.
justKowalski: What about winter activities? Do you like winter? Do you ski?
Anna Korcz: I've been skiing for 30 years, but I don't like winter. Honestly, I prefer to watch it on TV, or when I'm sitting warmly wrapped up in front of the fireplace sipping mulled wine. I ski, though I don't consider myself an expert. Polish slopes still make me think of queues and short runs. Abroad we discovered Obereggen in South Tyrol, in Italy. The slopes were empty, safe and sunny. The truth is that most of my friends fly off "to the Dominican Republic" for the winter school holidays, in other words to places where it's summer at that time. I prefer it warm, too.
justKowalski: What does "Zacisze" in Pomiechówek mean to you?
Anna Korcz: It's certainly a place where you can reset. Someone once said that if I see fireflies in May, it means the air is clean. And I see them here every year. The nature is beautiful, and the River Wkra flows slowly. Less than an hour's drive from Warsaw and you're in another world. Many people hold their wedding receptions here; I have a beautiful hall with a fireplace and a view of an overgrown orchard. I have kayaks you can borrow, a beach and a playground.
justKowalski: Thank you very much for talking to me! I wish you every success with your plans, both here at "Zacisze" and wherever your traveller's imagination takes you.
