Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication
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Reading Plutarch of Chaeronea: A Cinematic Portrait of the Youth of Alexander the Great as Envisaged by Robert Rossen and Oliver Stone
Get PDFReading Plutarch of Chaeronea: A Cinematic Portrait of the Youth of Alexander the Great as Envisaged by Robert Rossen and Oliver StoneThis article is a study of the dynamics of interaction between historiography and “historiophoty” i.e. between a historical source – Plutarch’s Life of Alexander – and two epic films: R. Rossen’s Alexander Th e Great (1956) and O. Stone’s Alexander (2004). The authors of this study were interested in the cinematographic treatment of the legends, and so-called “historical truths” surrounding the birth, childhood, and early youth (boyhood or teenage years) of Alexander
"Declaration of Immortality" – Inspirations Derived from Creative Documentaries by Wojciech Wiszniewski
Get PDFIn his documentary Declaration of Immortality, Marcin Koszałka intentionally refers to the style of Wojciech Wiszniewski. Visual creativity is strongly exposed here, both in the style of fi lming and the presentation of the hero. Th e main character in the fi lm, Piotr Korc zak, reminds of the monument-like heroes from Wiszniewski’s fi lms, like protagonist from Wanda Gościmińska. A Weaver Koszałka fi lmed the scenes in the Potocki Palace in Krzeszowice in the manner of Wiszniewski’s long tracking shots. Visual creativity in Koszałka’s and Wiszniewski’s fi lms encompasses the staging, precise frame composition, and their intentional artifi ciality, which does not nullify the documentary their nature. Form in the works of the directors of Primer (Wiszniewski) and Declaration of Immortality (Koszałka) interacts more or less with the spirit of Stanisław Witkiewicz’s art. Koszałka, like Wiszniewski, ‘dismantles’ reality, exposing the illusion of cinema to present a guru of mountain climbing (Korczak) as a ‘hostage of immortality’. Th e lonely hero from Wiszniewski-like staged scenes in Declaration of Immortality is presented as an ‘outgoing star’ whose fame has passed, giving way to alienation or a sense of failure. Th e tension from Declaration of Immortality emerges from the contrast between the way of fi lming (heroic style), and the meaning of particular scenes. Th e cinema of Wojciech Wiszniewski includes symbols, metaphors, and allegories. Th is artistic conception goes well with Marcin Koszałka’s concept of cinema, which – since the making of Existence (2007) – has become more and more symbolic, incorporating Baroque-like formal ideas based on strong contrasts to evoke ‘cognitive discomfort’ in the viewer.
On Parody
Get PDFThe essay consists of a series of examples of parody, and of statements regarding the nature and functions of parody. One is allowed to wonder if the form of the essay parodies obsessive-compulsive thought. Parody is taken to be a form of irony within the verbal, visual, and acoustical arts. As well, the claim is made that it is often unwittingly manifested in personal behavior, and in theories of human nature upon which forms of utopian thought and social engineering are based. Examples are drawn from film, painting, literature and literary criticism, psychotherapy, teaching, the writing of history, social engineering, and jokes. Parody is taken to be a major means for combating the corruption of consciousness in both its personal and communal forms
Metaphor, Metonymy and Metalepsis: Three Tropes in Contemporary Slovak Documentary
Get PDFThis paper presents the films of three Slovak contemporary documentary filmmakers of the younger generation from a rhetorical and poetic perspective. Through their authorial films, Peter Kerekes, Marko Skop and Juraj Lehotsky call into question the widespread conception of documentary as recorded reality. Meanwhile, Peter Kerekes uses metaphor in a sophisticated way to structure his film Cooking History (2009), and presents various analogies between war and food, and cooking and historiography, Marko Skop uses more subtle figures to creatively treat the actuality. In Osadne, uses spatial metaphors and a large number of symbols to represent the small Slovak village of Osadne within the European Union. He also transforms a seemingly linear narration into a thread of analepses and prolepses. Finally, Juraj Lehotsky in his Blind Loves involves fiction in actuality, by representing his own ideas of blind peoples’ visions and fantasies, creating a metaleptical documentary chronotope. In accordance with George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s cognitive theory of meaning, the paper presents metaphor, but also other figures and tropes as means that help to understand one kind of experience in terms of another kind of experience. At the same time, the paper demonstrates that metaphorical, but also metonymical and meta- leptical thinking by the filmmaker transforms recorded reality and provides a new, personal outlook on the world - an outlook that the spectator can not only understand, but sometimes even adopt.
Filipińskie kino w odcieniach różu
Get PDFThis essay discusses two examples of contemporary Filipino cinema – The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros), Auraeus Solito’s directoral debut, and Joel C. Lamangan’s Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Moveeh. More divides than binds these films together, especially in terms of genre. The first is a comedy-drama, the latter – a musical adaptation of a fantasy comic book. What binds them together is the fact that both main characters are bakla – Filipino gays, although the word is very difficult to translate into Polish. It refers both to a “gay“ – a homosexual person who is in a relationship with another homosexual person, as well as a feminized man who performs his own sexuality and identity. Even though it would be very difficult to describe The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros and Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Moveeh as masterpieces of contemporary cinema, their pertinence should be seen in the courage to speak about the issue of homosexuality in the Philippines and the undeniable uniqueness of showing the social problems of the country in this manner.This essay discusses two examples of contemporary Filipino cinema – The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros), Auraeus Solito’s directoral debut, and Joel C. Lamangan’s Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Moveeh. More divides than binds these films together, especially in terms of genre. The first is a comedy-drama, the latter – a musical adaptation of a fantasy comic book. What binds them together is the fact that both main characters are bakla – Filipino gays, although the word is very difficult to translate into Polish. It refers both to a “gay“ – a homosexual person who is in a relationship with another homosexual person, as well as a feminized man who performs his own sexuality and identity. Even though it would be very difficult to describe The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros and Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Moveeh as masterpieces of contemporary cinema, their pertinence should be seen in the courage to speak about the issue of homosexuality in the Philippines and the undeniable uniqueness of showing the social problems of the country in this manner.
Filmmakers to Themselves? Czech Documentary Cinema After 2000
Get PDFThe development of Czech post-socialist documentary cinema was significantly influenced by the process of privatization of Short Film (the former resource base for documentary filmmaking). In the early 1990s, the documentary, as a rather unprofitable area of filmmaking, was not a priority for the rapidly developing field of domestic production. As such, documentary was fully dependent on collaboration with the television industry. This study, however, focuses mainly on the period after the year 2000, and analyses its main trends. Special attention is paid to the establishment of new institutions to support the development and production of film, as well as new marketing and exhibition platforms. Documentary filmmaking in a small post-socialist country is here treated as being embedded in and influenced by a web of inter-relations between filmmakers, Czech Television, the Institute of Documentary Cinema and the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival.
Etiudy „społecznego zwiadu”. O szkolnych krewniaczkach filmów czarnej serii
Get PDFThe text refers to the films of black series of Polish document and arising at the same time (1956–1957) etudes of students of the Lodz Film School, dedicated to social issues. Analysis of individual works led to several observation. First, the etudes, like movies of black series, reflecting the social movement of 1956, but their subject matter turned out to be partly different. Appeared in them, for example, political threads. Secondly, the etudes showed many similarities to the professional implementation of the WFD, but only films of Hoffman and Skórzewski can pass as a source of inspiration for students. More frequently students ideas appeared in the improved form in the films of young professionals. Thirdly, the weaker school productions were bolder.The text refers to the films of black series of Polish document and arising at the same time (1956–1957) etudes of students of the Lodz Film School, dedicated to social issues. Analysis of individual works led to several observation. First, the etudes, like movies of black series, reflecting the social movement of 1956, but their subject matter turned out to be partly different. Appeared in them, for example, political threads. Secondly, the etudes showed many similarities to the professional implementation of the WFD, but only films of Hoffman and Skórzewski can pass as a source of inspiration for students. More frequently students ideas appeared in the improved form in the films of young professionals. Thirdly, the weaker school productions were bolder.
Between Documentary and Fiction: Authenticity and Voyeurism in the Cinema of Ulrich Seidl
Get PDFThe peculiarity of the films by Ulrich Seidl lies in the fact that the Austrian director combines freely the feature and documentary film techniques. This makes classifying his works not only impossible, but also pointless. Nevertheless, Seidl was perceived by critics as a documentary film director until he shot “Dog Days” in the year 2001. This film is regarded as a kind of a turning point in his career, a transition from documentary to fictional filmmaking. In fact it is hard to speak of a fundamental change in this instance. It seems more appropriate to perceive Seidl’s work as the director’s own consistently developed concept of cinema. The category of authenticity in meaning, contained in a definition formulated by the German film theoretician Manfred Hattendorf, proves to be very useful for describing the characteristic features of Seidl’s works. The techniques applied by Seidl in order to achieve the impression of authenticity by the viewer also bring to mind the voyeur’s perspective.
Ukryte kamery Stanisława Barei
Get PDFThe article is the introduction to Stanisław Bareja’s master’s thesis Zagadnienia realizacji filmów z ukrytej kamery stanowiących część telewizyjnych programów rozrywkowych [Candid camera filmmaking for entertainment TV programs, 1974]. It points out the American background of the candid camera genre, like Allen Funt’s production, which started in 1948 [ABC], and specifies the main focus of Bareja’ thesis, e.g. multi-stage process of making candid camera clips for Polish TV and the mechanics of making audience laugh.The article is the introduction to Stanisław Bareja’s master’s thesis Zagadnienia realizacji filmów z ukrytej kamery stanowiących część telewizyjnych programów rozrywkowych [Candid camera filmmaking for entertainment TV programs, 1974]. It points out the American background of the candid camera genre, like Allen Funt’s production, which started in 1948 [ABC], and specifies the main focus of Bareja’ thesis, e.g. multi-stage process of making candid camera clips for Polish TV and the mechanics of making audience laugh
Dwaj ludzie z szafą w perspektywie genologicznej
Get PDFParabola is the essence of the short film Two Men and a Wardrobe (and likewise Mammals and The Fat and the Lean). Parabola is dominant of the genre, not merely an occasional and distinguishing attribute. In its interior, we find traces of other genres. These include noir comedy, slapstick burlesque, existential drama, the thriller, and drama of the absurd, grotesque and macabre. The poetic dimension of Polanski’s short film, in which reality confronts and permeates the skilfully constructed and captivating fantasy presented by the artist, allowing all the elements of the genre to be combined into a common whole.Parabola is the essence of the short film Two Men and a Wardrobe (and likewise Mammals and The Fat and the Lean). Parabola is dominant of the genre, not merely an occasional and distinguishing attribute. In its interior, we find traces of other genres. These include noir comedy, slapstick burlesque, existential drama, the thriller, and drama of the absurd, grotesque and macabre. The poetic dimension of Polanski’s short film, in which reality confronts and permeates the skilfully constructed and captivating fantasy presented by the artist, allowing all the elements of the genre to be combined into a common whole