Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication
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Kieślowski in Spain: History, Reception and Inspiration
Get PDFThe films of Krzysztof Kieślowski arrived in Spain comparatively late, and when they did so this was mainly due to the Film Festivals at San Sebastián and Valladolid, as well the efforts of independent producers like the brothers José María and Miguel Morales of Wanda Films. In 1988, A Short Film About Love was presented at the San Sebastián Festival, where it won the Special Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize, and caught the attention of Spanish critics. To this day, Kieślowski remains the Polish director best-known to the Spanish – as was made clear in 2016, by the numerous events and screenings marking the 20th anniversary of his death. There can be no doubt that, in the homeland of Buñuel, no other Polish director evokes as much enthusiasm. Considering the Spanish reaction to the maker of the Three Colours, this article focuses on the distribution of Kieślowski’s works in Spain, as well as the director’s presence at the Spanish Festivals. Further subjects of analysis are reviews by Spanish critics and the state of research into Kieslowski’s creative output in the Spanish language, as well as the release of his films on DVD and Blu-Ray. The above focus on festivals, the attitudes of critics, and the popularity among the Spanish viewing public is supplemented by a study of the impact of Kieślowski’s output on the work of Spanish directors, as well as efforts to discern the direct influence of the former’s films in offering the latter inspiration
In the clutches of melancholy. Interpretive analysis of Gilles Renard’s student film “Late Afternoon”
Get PDFThe aim of the analysis is to present the film (Late Afternoon) by Gilles Renard as a study of melancholy. Both the plot and the cinematographic means used to shape the form of this short film correspond with the theoretical texts by Julia Kristeva and Melanie Klein on depression in women. The author of the text considers Late Afternoon as a feminist and affirmative film, strongly inspired by the aesthetics of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s cinematic output
Aesthetics of 1950s and 1960s interiors presented in Polish comedy films from that period
Get PDFThis article is an attempt at outlining key aesthetic standards of interior design of the 1950s and 1960s on the basis of examples exhibited in the Polish and foreign romantic comedies of that time. Some distinguishing features of 1960s Polish aesthetics were the characteristic abstract language, organic form, asymmetry, diagonal lines, arrangements based on “A” and “X” letter outlines and lively colours. Furniture design used new materials mostly plywood and plastics such as polyvinyl chloride and epoxy resins. The 1960s, called “small stabilization” by design historians, were slightly different. Shops offered a variety of new products designed by Polish creators – such as furniture, home appliances, tools and machines. New Polish industrial design of 1960s is represented by the RAMONA and EWA radios and the BAMBINO record player, whereas sectional furniture – especially SYSTEM MK designed by Bogusława and Czesław Kowalski, better known as “the Kowalskis’ furniture” – became the icon of the decade. Polish and foreign romantic comedies from 1950s and 1960s are an excellent iconographic source of information on how interior design changed in the second half of the 20th century, and specifically on how living space was organized and adapted for private and public purposes. In Poland, attempts were made to use all the “design innovations” coming from the west, however, the immutably closed Polish borders prevented them from spreading freely. We had to use local designers. In the 2nd half of the twentieth century, a period which Prof Irena Huml called “the invasion of modernity” started. The doctrine of socialist realism was rejected and the focus was on modernity. Innovation became the most desirable feature of a work of art, and modernity the most important concept
Architectural space of Jan Rybkowski’s Warszawska premiera and Aleksander Ford’s Młodość Chopina. The film vision of 19th-century cities in the times of socialist realism
Get PDFTwo Polish historical films set in 19th-century cities were created. The paper analyzes film images of Warsaw, Paris and Vienna. For the needs of Warszawska premiera [Warsaw Première] and especially Młodość Chopina [Youth of Chopin] impressive sets of 19th-century cities were built in an atelier in Łódź. The author presents the main architectural principles behind these visions and points to the problems faced by the artists who wanted to create a credible and convincing illusion of the past. The films of socialist realism are today a peculiar souvenir of the Stalinist culture with its brazen propaganda message. It is, however, worth noting that the staging and decorations in the films depicting the past were created with great historical accuracy and some of the solutions applied during the production of Warsaw Première and Youth of Chopin were a great hint for later films of a similar character
Fiancées and widows: women’s encounters with death in the silent films of Fritz Lang
Get PDFKłys Tomasz, Fiancées and widows: women’s encounters with death in the silent films of Fritz Lang. “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 155–162. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.10.
In the silent Weimar films of Fritz Lang, the heroines have sudden encounters with Death, conceived both as an allegorical figure and as an unexpected violent end of the life of their fiancé, husband or loved one. The nameless Maiden, the main heroine of Der müde Tod (The Weary Death, known in English-language countries as Destiny, 1921), while looking for her fiancé, who was kidnapped by Death, tries three times to regain his life and finally, overcome by Death, commits suicide. Two queens of Burgundy in Die Nibelungen (The Nibelungs, 1924), Kriemhild and Brunhild, motivated by resentment and vengeance, as well as by unfulfilled love, finally appear to be zombie-like self-destructive monsters, destroying the social and political order, and the lives of many human beings. The paper, with the use of the psychoanalytic concepts of melancholy and the mourning “not-worked-out” by the persons who have lost their loved ones, analyses the ambiguous attitudes and self-destructive acts of these “women in black”..Kłys Tomasz, Fiancées and widows: women’s encounters with death in the silent films of Fritz Lang. “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 155–162. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.10.
In the silent Weimar films of Fritz Lang, the heroines have sudden encounters with Death, conceived both as an allegorical figure and as an unexpected violent end of the life of their fiancé, husband or loved one. The nameless Maiden, the main heroine of Der müde Tod (The Weary Death, known in English-language countries as Destiny, 1921), while looking for her fiancé, who was kidnapped by Death, tries three times to regain his life and finally, overcome by Death, commits suicide. Two queens of Burgundy in Die Nibelungen (The Nibelungs, 1924), Kriemhild and Brunhild, motivated by resentment and vengeance, as well as by unfulfilled love, finally appear to be zombie-like self-destructive monsters, destroying the social and political order, and the lives of many human beings. The paper, with the use of the psychoanalytic concepts of melancholy and the mourning “not-worked-out” by the persons who have lost their loved ones, analyses the ambiguous attitudes and self-destructive acts of these “women in black”.
Filmowa franczyza. Od tematu do widowiska telewizyjnego (na podstawie cyklu „Prawdziwe Historie”)
Get PDFThe TV series True Stories (Prawdziwe Historie) is an example of contemporary commercial cinema. It is located on the border of documentary film and an attractive version of fictional cinema. In specific circumstances, it can be treated as a commercial product, but not only in the sense of film production and distribution, but more broadly, as a recognisable brand on the domestic cinema market, containing all the elements of industry know-how, as well as significant and commonly seen features of a film style that guarantees both turnout and financial success. In a sense, therefore, this phenomenon can be considered in terms of a film franchise which offers creators, most often beginners, a proven business patent in the form of a coherent television series, but also giving the possibility of a safe feature debut and the space for creative exploration.The TV series True Stories (Prawdziwe Historie) is an example of contemporary commercial cinema. It is located on the border of documentary film and an attractive version of fictional cinema. In specific circumstances, it can be treated as a commercial product, but not only in the sense of film production and distribution, but more broadly, as a recognisable brand on the domestic cinema market, containing all the elements of industry know-how, as well as significant and commonly seen features of a film style that guarantees both turnout and financial success. In a sense, therefore, this phenomenon can be considered in terms of a film franchise which offers creators, most often beginners, a proven business patent in the form of a coherent television series, but also giving the possibility of a safe feature debut and the space for creative exploration
Bunt i nostalgia. Filmy dokumentalne o festiwalu w Jarocinie
Get PDFThe aim of the article is to present and attempt to classify documentary films about the Jarocin music festival. The films are conventionally divided into those shot during the 1980s editions and those created in our century, which describe them festival in retrospect. By analyzing selected works, the author draws attention to whether and how the approach to the subject and the form of the film change over the years.The aim of the article is to present and attempt to classify documentary films about the Jarocin music festival. The films are conventionally divided into those shot during the 1980s editions and those created in our century, which describe them festival in retrospect. By analyzing selected works, the author draws attention to whether and how the approach to the subject and the form of the film change over the years
Human on fire as a gesture of self-offering in Polish documentary films
No full textTes Urszula, Human on fire as a gesture of self-offering in Polish documentary films “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 172–179. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.12.
One of strongest acts of personal protest in the communist era was self-immolation, which was the subject of two Polish documentaries. Maciej Drygas in Hear My Cry invoked the figure of Ryszard Siwiec, who immolated himself on September 8, 1968 as a sign of protest against the Soviet army invasion of Czechoslovakia. In his documentary, Drygas shows a fragment of the film with the burning man, juxtaposing it with the testimony of witnesses to the tragedy and the account of the family. This documentary restores the memory of the whole society, who due solely to the film, learned about the radical gesture of a common man. Holy Fire by Jarosław Mańka and Maciej Grabysa in turn invokes the heroic but forgotten Walenty Badylak, who immolated himself in March of 1980 in Cracow as an expression of his objection to distortion of the truth about Katyń. Both acts of self-immolation had for many years been perceived as totally futile acts, while the directors show that the self-immolation of these now has a deep and symbolic meaning. In my analysis, I shall invoke historic and cultural contexts, conduct a multifaceted interpretation of self-immolation act and discuss the complex imagery included in the films.Tes Urszula, Human on fire as a gesture of self-offering in Polish documentary films “Images” vol. XXV, no. 34. Poznań 2019. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. 172–179. ISSN 1731-450X. DOI 10.14746/i.2019.34.12.
One of strongest acts of personal protest in the communist era was self-immolation, which was the subject of two Polish documentaries. Maciej Drygas in Hear My Cry invoked the figure of Ryszard Siwiec, who immolated himself on September 8, 1968 as a sign of protest against the Soviet army invasion of Czechoslovakia. In his documentary, Drygas shows a fragment of the film with the burning man, juxtaposing it with the testimony of witnesses to the tragedy and the account of the family. This documentary restores the memory of the whole society, who due solely to the film, learned about the radical gesture of a common man. Holy Fire by Jarosław Mańka and Maciej Grabysa in turn invokes the heroic but forgotten Walenty Badylak, who immolated himself in March of 1980 in Cracow as an expression of his objection to distortion of the truth about Katyń. Both acts of self-immolation had for many years been perceived as totally futile acts, while the directors show that the self-immolation of these now has a deep and symbolic meaning. In my analysis, I shall invoke historic and cultural contexts, conduct a multifaceted interpretation of self-immolation act and discuss the complex imagery included in the films