Interview with Sapkowski and Bagiński about their involvement in Netflix series and comparisons to Witcher game, Game of Thrones and old tv series (ENG translation)
translation: toudi815
-The witcher is today treated as a product, but also our national treasure, probably many people have very high expectations of the planned series. Aren’t you afraid that it will not meet yours and fans expectations. In the end it will be a production made for a profit, so it might lose original atmosphere and simplify or complicate narration?
AS: Everything is possible. Maybe the production will meet the expectations, maybe not. And most likely: will meet for some, and won’t for the others. When, we will see, we will judge the final product. Earlier disputes, deliberations, prophecies, anxieties and existential fears are rather pointless.
- Will you influence the script and the production? I read that you are involved, but I am interested in its scope. Will you be a screenwriter, co-writer, co-producer? As long as it is not too early to announce such details.
AS: I will be a consultant. It means that I will consult.
- It Immediately raises associations with Game of Thrones, excellent film production, prose no longer mention. Are not you afraid of comparisons?
AS: When thirty years ago began to publish stories and books about the witcher, I was also asked. In the beginning: are you not afraid of comparisons with Lem? A little later: are not you afraid of comparisons with Tolkien? Still later: Are you afraid of comparisons with Conan? The answer was always the same. No, I’m not afraid. And who wants to compare things incomparable, is a fool. And whom do such senseless associations, is a fool also.
- What do you think of cooperation with Tomasz Bagiński? He might be a very strong point of this project?
AS: Very strong. It’s hard to find a stronger one. If not for Tomek, there wouldn’t be this project at all.
- According to the official announcement, you will direct at least one episode in every season of the series. Is this the only contribution of you and Platige Image to this project?
TB: I’d really like to say about that, because I know the answer to this question well. But this is one of the information that I cannot give at the moment. I can only apologize, but not all the questions that will surely intrigue readers, I will not be able to answer. I’m obliged to keep it secret. For now , it is just too early to talk more about production and how exactly we will be involved in this project. I cannot say also when we will shoot, what actors we will have, how many episodes, and how big budgets will be
- Sure, it’s understandable to us. But Platige Image has already gone up on stock, so there is something to enjoy and hopefully this contribution will be big enough.
TB: [Laughs] I count on the same thing, but let’s also keep in mind that not many Platige Image actions are aviable in official market, so the course leaps are relatively easy to call. It is not a big stock exchange company, stock market trading is also not staggering.
- Basic question: just in case: do you know how to make a better golden dragon than the one shown in the 2002 “The Hexer” series?
TB: This is a question that I consider to be rhetorical and allow myself to refrain from responding.
- There are books, there was a serial, there is a game. Spectators will surely put a lot of demands before the new show. Are you not afraid that this requirement, both in Poland and in the world, won’t be meet, as din the case of TVP series? Although - in my opinion - it had a lot of good points , like Grzegorz Ciechowski’s brilliant music or great pictures.
TB: I think it makes no sense to put an equality sign here. These are two completely different productions, arising in other times and conditions. A lot of people are working on this production that we will be doing with Netflix. The people who deal with it are great professionals, world class. I think such concerns are premature, we do not pay attention to it now. Sure, it is a very difficult work, a difficult industry and we want the project to be of very high quality. We’ve done a lot to get that right. This is not a one-man project by Bagiński, as it often appears in our media. This is a big effort of a large group of people, many of whom are more talented than me.
- But there are also comparisons to two other things. For “The game of thrones,” which is a high-budget HBO production. I will not ask if the new Witcher will have a similar budget and momentum. But it will probably be compared to this show, perhaps it will be overshadowed. In the end those are two fantasy stories of a somewhat similar nature, and climate.
TB: And that is - I think - the only resemblance. And “The Witcher”, and “GOT” are original fantasy novels, and, indeed both are fantastic. But the resemblance ends. Stories are completely different, they touch other values, they talk about them in a different way. The only similarity is that here and here are the knights and swords. And maybe dragons. But in fact these stories differ in almost every way. The story written by Andrzej Sapkowski is much more contemporary, talks much more about our world
What we will do will be significantly different from what the creators of “GOT” did. Outstanding on the show. I think we will easily avoid comparisons. These productions will not even compare. We do not want the “The Witcher” to be either Netflix or Polish “GOT.” The witcher will be the witcher and will have it’s own name and value.
- They will be also comparisons to the game, which is also visually sophisticated and in some way shaped Geralt’s image, the way he moves, what he speaks and what he is like. Is not that a bigger challenge, since the game has met millions of people? Will not it be too far away from their “game” prototype?
TB: I believe that the game is an outstanding production and to CD Projekt did their job exceptionally. I know many persons from their team and I have a great respect for their work. But novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski give the possibility of other interpretations of the same story. It seems to me that this threat does not exist, and fans will be able to make friends or like a hero who will not be a copy of the characters from the game. Both productions derive from the very literary material created by Andrzej Sapkowski. There will be many similarities, but when it comes to how visuals, we will look for our own path.
- You have already dealt with the transfer of Polish legends and stories to the screenWill these experiences help you a little bit with the Witcher?
TB: These are completely different projects, but … I never hid and I do not hide that I’m a Pole and that in this culture I grew up. So the Slavic themes in my heart and I will return to them. It is also something very interesting and exotic for an international audience. It seems to me that it can be used as a visual setting just like Vikings culture, samurai or Indian. This is in some way unused, valuable, very interesting visually, musically, climateally part of the world culture, which has so far been a little bit on the side track. And I have the impression that fashion is now on Slavicity and this kind of emotions. It also falls into the larger program that we want to introduce in our studio, related to the notion of culture, which is a conglomerate of different issues where culture, technology, business - and it’s on a large scale. The point is that behind every product, subject, for all that surrounds us, there is a kind of history. And this story is sometimes more important than the product itself. The Polish culture has not always made good use of this potential, which is gigantic. And we have a whole bunch of great creators who are successful all over the world.
