Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication
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“The way up is the way down”: Curzio Malaparte’s “Il Cristo Proibito” and Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three Colours: Red”
Get PDFThe statement ‘the way up is the way down’ may imply that the spiritual way to perfection lies through humility. It may however also apply to the physical world that is the source of such spiritual metaphors, and within which the actions play out of fictional characters who themselves serve as metaphors for real ones. I will argue that both meanings apply to both of these films, with a comparison between the two films enabling one to employ Malaparte’s explicit prohibition of a Christ-like position to make apparent a similar prohibition that is only implicit in Kieślowski’s film. Such physical movements provide an appropriate topography for the concern with judgment, knowledge, revenge, isolation and humiliation embodied in the male protagonists of the two films. In each case, the protagonists’ eventual divestment from programmes of judgment and revenge may be related to the prohibition Malaparte formulates explicitly: that upon human re-enactment of the Christ-like position that is the one of judgment. Here a destructive and self-destructive movement downwards, in the sense of dehumanization and extreme isolation, is countered eventually by a downward one that, in fact, leads upwards through an embrace of the humiliation of inaction. The paper examines various ways in which the object of both texts is to rediscover a ‘we’ that is rather one of solidarity than complicity
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Decalogue” as a Quality TV Series
Get PDFThe text is dedicated to The Decalogue (Dekalog,1988) by Krzysztof Kieslowski and analyses the television series through the prism of genre and contemporary television studies, including the concept of quality television. Kieslowski’s series fulfills all the criteria assigned to the contemporary new generation television series, and can act as a reference point for interpreting Poland’s first new generation series by HBO, In treatment (Bez tajemnic, 2011–2013). The two titles are also linked by the same Polish film tradition, i.e. the cinema of moral concern, even though In treatment is based on foreign format
View from the inside. The images of the city in the “black series” documentary films in Poland in the 1950s
Get PDFThe article analyses the particular interest that the documentary filmmakers of the late 1950s had in the architectural and urban issues. The reasons for this phenomenon are situated in several plans: they refer to the image of reconstruction from the war devastation and the reaction to its falsification in the period of socialist realism. They refer to the social interests of the filmmakers and to the strategy of metaphorising and allegorising the images of the city, which was handy in the times of censorship as it extended meanings and applied non-literality. The article analyses various film incarnations of this phenomenon
Krzysztof Kieślowski and Ingmar Bergman – once again about a certain artistic relationship
Get PDFKrzysztof Kieślowski and Ingmar Bergman belonged to different generations of film authors, but there was a certain artistic kinship between them. They were both interested in issues related to human existence, but their films also seem similar in terms of their aesthetic dimensions, in particular, their cinematographic style. Both directors also created films deriving from their private experience, often creating characters on screen who seem to be in some respect their alter egos. This articles deals with various similarities between the cinema of Kieślowski and Bergman
Kieślowski, the mysteries of screens and God
Get PDFThe computer seems like a privileged personage in Decalogue 1 (Dekalog, jeden, 1987/88, prem. 1989, dir. K. Kieślowski): it is used by Paweł and his father to solve mathematical questions about Miss Piggy, to calculate the durability of the ice on the pond, to know what Mum is doing, and to control domestic devices. For Kieślowski the computer is not just a gadget: Krzysztof ’s lecture describes its potential and its possible autonomy. Independent from man (the computer switches itself on), it becomes his rival: Kieślowski proposes a critical interpretation of the computer as a new idol, promising unlimited memory and knowledge. A similar preoccupation can be found in the Black Mirror series, where new technologies, existing or as yet still fantastic, are becoming more and more intrusive in the lives of their human protagonists. The computer seems also to be a rival of God, present in symbols in Decalogue 1: a sign of him is not only the metaphysical man played by Artur Barciś, but also the biblical symbol of fire and the Madonna’s tears
Filmowy Mińsk (1915–1918) – polskie doświadczenie podczas Wielkiej Wojny
Get PDFPolish film life in the Eastern Borderlands of the former Republic of Poland is replete with numerous white spots. During World War One, however, activity was quite intense, as evidenced by book-length studies on Vilnius, Lviv and even Kiev. Minsk, the future capital of Belarus, also had its own film-related Polish culture. The article focuses on the functioning of Minsk cinemas and their repertoire, as well as the Polish accents associated with them, which repeatedly had a mobilizing and identitarian character around which the national community of this provincial city was organized. Minsk’s border status means its cinematographic ancestry can be claimed by various national cinematographies, including Russian and Belarusian, but the source query and resulting findings clearly indicate that in the years of the Great War, this center was most strongly associated with Polish culturePolish film life in the Eastern Borderlands of the former Republic of Poland is replete with numerous white spots. During World War One, however, activity was quite intense, as evidenced by book-length studies on Vilnius, Lviv and even Kiev. Minsk, the future capital of Belarus, also had its own film-related Polish culture. The article focuses on the functioning of Minsk cinemas and their repertoire, as well as the Polish accents associated with them, which repeatedly had a mobilizing and identitarian character around which the national community of this provincial city was organized. Minsk’s border status means its cinematographic ancestry can be claimed by various national cinematographies, including Russian and Belarusian, but the source query and resulting findings clearly indicate that in the years of the Great War, this center was most strongly associated with Polish cultur
Synagogue paintings as indicating a!developing conception of national redemption
Get PDFAbstract. Orgad Zvi, Synagogue paintings as indicating a developing conception of national redemption. “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 15–27. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.01.
This article compares the interior paintings in the ‘Ades and Ohel Moshe synagogues, both of which are non-Ashkenazi, in the Naḥlaot neighborhood in Jerusalem. Although the synagogues were decorated 50 years apart, there are similarities in the painted motifs and drawing schemes, but also some differences. I suggest that these differences reflect the development of a Jewish concept of national redemption during the 50 years that elapsed between the adornment of the two synagogues.Abstract. Orgad Zvi, Synagogue paintings as indicating a developing conception of national redemption. “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 15–27. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.01.
This article compares the interior paintings in the ‘Ades and Ohel Moshe synagogues, both of which are non-Ashkenazi, in the Naḥlaot neighborhood in Jerusalem. Although the synagogues were decorated 50 years apart, there are similarities in the painted motifs and drawing schemes, but also some differences. I suggest that these differences reflect the development of a Jewish concept of national redemption during the 50 years that elapsed between the adornment of the two synagogues
The national and the popular in Israeli cinema
No full textAbstract. Avisar Ilan, The national and the popular in Israeli cinema. “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 29–44. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.02.
The article examines Israeli cinema as a critical participant in the local drama of national ideology and national identity. Israeli filmmakers have engaged in enunciating the national culture, in the context of the medium’s history, political ideologies, and the tension between high art and popular culture. The historical review of Israeli films shows dramatic changes over the years from nationalistic propaganda to radical critique and post-Zionism. Israeli cinema appears now to seek a constructive and fruitful dialogue with the viewers. In the recent wave of popular films, the national ideology is more conscious of its past mistakes and inherent deficiencies; its presentation of national identity is less narrow and more open to alternative types, thereby suggesting new vistas of national culture.Abstract. Avisar Ilan, The national and the popular in Israeli cinema. “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 29–44. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.02.
The article examines Israeli cinema as a critical participant in the local drama of national ideology and national identity. Israeli filmmakers have engaged in enunciating the national culture, in the context of the medium’s history, political ideologies, and the tension between high art and popular culture. The historical review of Israeli films shows dramatic changes over the years from nationalistic propaganda to radical critique and post-Zionism. Israeli cinema appears now to seek a constructive and fruitful dialogue with the viewers. In the recent wave of popular films, the national ideology is more conscious of its past mistakes and inherent deficiencies; its presentation of national identity is less narrow and more open to alternative types, thereby suggesting new vistas of national cultur
