Paul Raksa belongs to those women who made the rating of the most beautiful actresses of Polish cinema of the XX century. Moreover, out of 25 charming and, frankly, delightful ladies, she is in second place. Whether admirers of Polish cinema will agree with such an assessment or not is up to everyone. About tastes, as they say, do not argue. But the fact that Apolonia is the only one with wide-open and slightly sad eyes is a fact beyond doubt.
From historians to actresses
Actress Paula Raksa, whose photo can now be seen on the pages of glossy publications, was born in mid-April 1941 in the Belarusian town of Lida. Her real name is Apolonia, but in the movie she is known as Paul (in Polish pronunciation it sounds like Fields).
The girl’s childhood was in difficult war years. After receiving a school certificate, she became a student at the University of Wroclaw and began to study in detail the history of her native Poland. Sometimes she went to the stage of the student theater "Pun." True, she did this mainly for entertainment and did not set any goals to become an actress. Now it is not clear what would have happened in her life, if not for one interesting case.
Cover photo
Once Paul Rax, whose biography is still interested in fans of her talent, rested in a cafe. A photojournalist walked by. He liked the face of the girl, and he photographed her. This photo then appeared on the cover of the magazine "Dokol Svyat."
Thanks to this unexpected event, Maria Kanevskaya, director and professor of the Lodz Higher School of Theater and Cinema, drew attention to Paul. At that time, she began to shoot a children's picture called "Satan from the seventh grade." Maria spotted the girl and invited her to star in the role of Wanda, the niece of the professor. Raxa agreed.
According to the plot of the film, one schoolboy Adam Tsisovsky is studying with an elderly teacher Gonsovsky, who is called Gus for his eyes. Because the boy has extraordinary abilities, the teacher calls him Satan. Adam has an unrivaled detective talent. He can figure out even the most confusing riddles.
In the small village of Beigola, the brother of an old teacher works. He is working on the restoration of an ancient palace from which unknown people steal doors all the time. Gonsovsky asks Adam to sort out this theft.
“Cinema is my everything!”
This debut was not very successful for her. Paul Rachs seemed very constrained and completely expressionless. The viewer was not impressed by what he saw on the screen. Nevertheless, one positive point was revealed, absolutely unexpected for Paula herself.
Thanks to these shootings, she literally infected the movie. Now she understood what profession she wanted to connect her life with. Therefore, she becomes a student at the Lodz Higher School of Theater and Cinematography. She studied there with tremendous perseverance and enthusiasm, which rector Jan Kretschmar could not help but notice. It was he, the man who always opposed the fact that students went to the set, made an exception for Paula.
One wave of eyelashes
Paul Rax, whose films are very fond of Polish viewers, was shot in almost every semester during her studies. As a first year student, she was approved for the main female role of the revolutionary Marysi Chepulonis in the film "Reality" (the director was Anthony Bogdzevich). But with all her efforts, the character turned out to be just cute, but no more. Still, the young actress did not give up. Her labors did not go unnoticed, and luck came.
A year before graduating from the Higher School, another film appeared in her creative biography. Then the Polish scriptwriter Alexander Szibor-Rylsky, who at that time was quite famous, decided to try himself as a director. His debut was the melodrama "Their Day is Ordinary" (at the box office of Soviet cinema it was called "The Story of One Love"). The film described the problems of a young family. Paula Raxa played Grazhina, a girl to whom, in the story, her husband left the family.
It was in this role that the young actress managed to do what did not work out so far. The girl was insanely organic in the frame. Only through her eyes could she convey to the audience a gamut of feelings, and this found its response. A little later, when the twentieth anniversary of Polish cinema was approaching, the magazine Ekran conducted a survey among young people. The people of Poland chose Grazhina as one of the most beloved characters.
About the roles
The 1965th was marked for Paula by another role - Helena de Wit in the historical film “Ashes” by Andrzej Wajda. But not everything worked out as planned. Slowly, there was talk that costume roles weren’t for her. It is possible that these rumors had some basis, especially since at the same time Raksa very successfully starred in another film by Anna Sokolovskaya “Beata”.
Already in 1967, a new work appeared in the actress's movie saw. She played Zosia in the film of the same name directed by Mikhail Bogin. It was a love story of a Polish girl and a Soviet soldier in difficult war days. In one battalion, located on a vacation in a village in Poland, serve two guys - Michael and Victor. Once they meet the daughter of their landlady - Zosey. Misha lost his head instantly, but for some reason it seems to him that the beauty chose Vitya. Michael comes to understand that Zosia’s feelings are turned exclusively to him only when the time has come for the battalion to leave the village.
For this role, Rax was awarded the prize of the Soviet Screen magazine in the days when the Moscow International Film Festival was held. When conducting a survey of readers, it turned out that it was this girl who deserved to become the best actress of 1967.
In the history of cinema there are not many paintings, during the demonstration of which even playgrounds of different cities were empty. One of those, which was revised by the majority of children and adolescents, was the Polish series, shot on the story of the same name by Janusz Pszymanowski “Four Tankers and a Dog”. He was also called "Three Poles, Georgians and a Dog." Paul Rax was approved for the role of nurse Maroussi. This heroine was a very charming girl. For most Soviet viewers, the actress became known precisely for this role.
In the seventies and eighties, Paul starred very rarely. Her last film work was Agatha's mom in the movie "Abduction of Agatha." This film was released in 1993.
Now the actress is engaged in fashion design.
A few words about personal
The personal life of Paula Raxa is almost unknown to the general public. But this does not cause any surprise, because the actress never sought to flaunt her.
It is only known that for six years, from 1964 to 1970, she was married to Andrzej Kostenko, director and cameraman. They became the parents of Martin's wonderful son.