Confronting the Past. Trauma, History and Memory in Wajda's Film
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Working-Class Cinema in the Age of Digital Capitalism
WORKING-CLASS CINEMA IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL CAPITALISM MASSIMILIANO MOLLONA he story of cinema starts with workers. The film Workers Leaving The TLumière Factory In Lyon (La Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon, 1895) by the brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière, 45 seconds long, shows the approximately 100 workers at a factory for photographic goods in Lyon- Montplaisir leaving through two gates and exiting the frame to both sides. But why does the story of cinema begin with the end of work? Is it because, as has been suggested, it is impossible to represent work from the perspective of labour but only from the point of view of capital, because the revolutionary horizon of the working class coincides with the end of work?1 After all, the early revolutionary art avant-garde had an ambiguous relationship with capitalism: it provided both a critique of commodification whilst also reproducing the commodity form.2 Even the cinema of Eisenstein, which so subverted the bourgeois sense of space, time, and personhood, at the same time standardized and commodified working-class reality with techniques of framing and editing that moulded images on the commodity form.3 Such dialectics between art and the commodity form continue to be played out in today’s digital capitalism, as exemplified by so-called ‘debt- artists’, like the hackers collective, Robin Hood, who appropriate the techniques and modes of sociality of financial capitalism to generate spaces of reciprocity and cooperation with the aim of disrupting their commodity logic, but which in fact end up reproducing it.4 The tension between critique and commodification is no less in play as the digital medium erases the specificity of cinema, the relation between its material bases and its poetics, opening up as it does to other relations – intertextual, lateral, and cross-media – that recall the synchronic aesthetics of the avant-garde. -
Contemporary Polish Cinema (Spring Term)
University of Pittsburgh Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Polish 1450 - Contemporary Polish Cinema (Spring Term) Instructor: Jolanta Lapot (visiting from Lodz Film School of Poland, 1999-2000) Course Meets: W CL249 5:45-10:00 Office Hours: Th, Fr 11:00-2:00 Office:1417 Cathedral of Learning e-mail:[email protected]. Phone: 624-5707 General Course Description The course presents contemporary Polish cinema from 1945 to the present. Concepts will be studied in their historical, political, philosophical, and aesthetic perspective. We will examine the important national themes in modern Polish cinema, relating them to the history of Poland and Eastern Europe. The main trends (schools, movements) in Polish cinema will be examined such as the so-called PolishSchool and the Cinema of Moral Concern. The works of most important modern Polish film-makers will be examined, including the works of Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk, Agnieszka Holland, Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Wladyslaw Pasikowski, Leszek Wosiewicz, and Ryszard Bugajski. Films to be examined may be divided into three general groups 1. Films representing post-war history and, more specifically, films covering important social and political transformations, but made after the fact. These are sometimes called revisionist films in search of historical truth, previously distorted by political ideology. 2. Films dealing with World War II. We will look at different ways in which the war is treated by film-makers over the course of the post-war period. 3. The final group of films is chosen purely on the basis of artistic merit. The role of film as an art form will be examined during the different periods of the post-World-War-Two era. -
BBC Four Programme Information
SOUND OF CINEMA: THE MUSIC THAT MADE THE MOVIES BBC Four Programme Information Neil Brand presenter and composer said, “It's so fantastic that the BBC, the biggest producer of music content, is showing how music works for films this autumn with Sound of Cinema. Film scores demand an extraordinary degree of both musicianship and dramatic understanding on the part of their composers. Whilst creating potent, original music to synchronise exactly with the images, composers are also making that music as discreet, accessible and communicative as possible, so that it can speak to each and every one of us. Film music demands the highest standards of its composers, the insight to 'see' what is needed and come up with something new and original. With my series and the other content across the BBC’s Sound of Cinema season I hope that people will hear more in their movies than they ever thought possible.” Part 1: The Big Score In the first episode of a new series celebrating film music for BBC Four as part of a wider Sound of Cinema Season on the BBC, Neil Brand explores how the classic orchestral film score emerged and why it’s still going strong today. Neil begins by analysing John Barry's title music for the 1965 thriller The Ipcress File. Demonstrating how Barry incorporated the sounds of east European instruments and even a coffee grinder to capture a down at heel Cold War feel, Neil highlights how a great composer can add a whole new dimension to film. Music has been inextricably linked with cinema even since the days of the "silent era", when movie houses employed accompanists ranging from pianists to small orchestras. -
Andrzej Wajda's a Generartion and Man of Marble
Andrzej Wajda’s A Generartion and Man of Marble By Fabian Schuppert Spring 2006 Issue of KINEMA ANDRZEJ WAJDA’S A GENERATION AND MAN OF MARBLE FROM A POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE ’The cinema does not exist in a sublime state of innocence, untouched by the world; it also has a political content, whether conscious or unconscious, hidden or overt.’(1) Andrew Sarris A PIECE of art is always produced in concrete socio-political circumstances; it is a social product. Undoubt- edly art does not come into being or exists in an absolute, free state of self-sufficiency. But to postulate that art is at the same time always political, is quite a different affair. What exactly does it imply to saythat art, or as in the case of Andrew Sarris and this article, that film is political? This paper is going to inquire into the political role, function and use of film. The aim of this paper is to give a short overview on selected theories on the political nature of art and film, before moving on and applying these concepts to two films by Andrzej Wajda. This paper will analyse Wajda’s A Generation (Pokolenie, 1955) and Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1976) from a political point of view. Both films were produced in Poland during the times of the communist regime, but under quite different conditions, and with quite different objectives. This article will not only deal with film analysis and interpretation but also critically look at the circumstance of production, which influenced the film: the concrete socio-political situation, including state pressure and censorship. -
Set in Scotland a Film Fan's Odyssey
Set in Scotland A Film Fan’s Odyssey visitscotland.com Cover Image: Daniel Craig as James Bond 007 in Skyfall, filmed in Glen Coe. Picture: United Archives/TopFoto This page: Eilean Donan Castle Contents 01 * >> Foreword 02-03 A Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire 04-07 B Argyll & The Isles 08-11 C Ayrshire & Arran 12-15 D Dumfries & Galloway 16-19 E Dundee & Angus 20-23 F Edinburgh & The Lothians 24-27 G Glasgow & The Clyde Valley 28-31 H The Highlands & Skye 32-35 I The Kingdom of Fife 36-39 J Orkney 40-43 K The Outer Hebrides 44-47 L Perthshire 48-51 M Scottish Borders 52-55 N Shetland 56-59 O Stirling, Loch Lomond, The Trossachs & Forth Valley 60-63 Hooray for Bollywood 64-65 Licensed to Thrill 66-67 Locations Guide 68-69 Set in Scotland Christopher Lambert in Highlander. Picture: Studiocanal 03 Foreword 03 >> In a 2015 online poll by USA Today, Scotland was voted the world’s Best Cinematic Destination. And it’s easy to see why. Films from all around the world have been shot in Scotland. Its rich array of film locations include ancient mountain ranges, mysterious stone circles, lush green glens, deep lochs, castles, stately homes, and vibrant cities complete with festivals, bustling streets and colourful night life. Little wonder the country has attracted filmmakers and cinemagoers since the movies began. This guide provides an introduction to just some of the many Scottish locations seen on the silver screen. The Inaccessible Pinnacle. Numerous Holy Grail to Stardust, The Dark Knight Scottish stars have twinkled in Hollywood’s Rises, Prometheus, Cloud Atlas, World firmament, from Sean Connery to War Z and Brave, various hidden gems Tilda Swinton and Ewan McGregor. -
Irish Film Series an Engrossing Trip Through the Music, Customs, Culture
Irish Film Series An engrossing trip through the music, customs, culture, politics, religion and history of Ireland as told in a series of films made about, Ireland and her people. The featured films span 200 years of the Irish experience. Series host: Frank Howe, Professor Emeritus, Longwood University WHEN IRELAND STARVED (1992) Saturday, February 28 2:00 – 4:00 PM "The ruin is great and complete. They are prostrate and helpless. The once frolicsome people, the saucy beggars...have disappeared and given place to wan and haggard objects who are so resigned to their doom that they no longer expect relief. One beholds only shrunken frames, scarcely covered with flesh, crawling skeletons, who appear to have risen from their graves." These are the words of a doctor writing at the height of the Great Irish Famine—undoubtedly an event with the most far-flung effects in Irish history. This film traces the causes of An Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger), follows its unfolding, and examines its results. It lays the groundwork for contextualizing the remainder of the film series. Director/Screenplay: Joseph Dunn THE BLODDY IRISH (2016) Saturday, March 7 2:00 – 4:00 PM A unique musical based on the events of the 1916 Easter Rising. The production combines traditional Irish music and song with a compelling script that examines the causes and results of the failed rebellion that ultimately led to Irish independence. Director: Michael Barker-Cavan Composer/Musical Director: David Downes Screenplay: Barry Devlin THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (2007) Saturday, March 14 2:00 – 4:00 PM Set during the Irish War of Independence in the early 1920s. -
May / Maj 2000R
WIADOMOŚCI Z BIBLIOTEKI Maj / Czerwiec 2000 W Numerze: Wajda na ustach świata. Obraz pokolenia artykuł Jana NowakaJeziorańskiego Trzy oblicza Brandysa Od Redakcji Podziękowania Ekslibrisy Biblioteka Polskiego Instytutu Naukowego Adam Ulam Exciting New Books Życie Kulturalne WAJDA NA USTACH ŚWIATA ! Dumni jesteśmy z naszego najsłynniejszego reżysera filmowego, Andrzeja Wajdy, którego uhonorowano tej wiosny nawyższym filmowym odznaczeniem Oskarem za całość jego pracy. Nic dziwnego że miłośnicy srebrnego ekranu uważają go za jednego z najważniejszych reżyserów w historii filmu! Osiągnięcia jego są zaiste imponujące. Wajda zrealizował 36 filmów fabularnych, ponad 30 spektakli teatralnych, kilkanaście programów telewizyjnych. Jest najbardziej znanym w świecie polskim reżyserem. Miał mnóstwo sukcesów, zdobył wiele nagród. Wśród szczególnie prestiżowych była w Canne Srebrna Palma w 1957 r. za Kanał i w 1978 r. zaCzłowieka z marmuru nagroda krytyki FIPRESCI. Popiół i diament przyniósł mu nagrodę krytyki w Wenecji w 1959 r. Andrzeja Wajdę wychował polski patriotyczny dom i szkoła. Ojciec jego był zawodowym oficerem, matka nauczycielką. Dzieciństwo spędził w prowincjonalnych garnizonowych miasteczkach. Miał zaledwie 13 lat gdy wybuchła wojna i ojciec ruszył by bronić ojczyzny. Nie zobaczył go więcej, ale dom był zawsze pełen pamiątek, jego pułkowych odznak, jego Krzyża Virtutu Militari, fotogrfii w mudurze i z szablą. W czasie okupcji Andrzej uczył się w Radomiu na tajnych kompletach. W 1942 r. złożył przysięgę swemu dowódcy w podziemiu. Matka drżała o jego życie. Wcześnie ujawniły się jego zamiłowania artystyczne i zdolności malarskie. Wnet po zakończeniu wojny miał swoją pierwszą wystawę malarską. Czas mu było wyrwać się na szerszy świat. Przeniósł się do Krakowa, gdzie rozpoczął studia malarskie na Akademii Sztuk Pięknych. -
Bodily Violence and Resistance in Wojtek Smarzowski's Rose
Article Bodily Violence and Resistance in Wojtek Smarzowski’s Rose (Róża, 2011) ELŻBIETA OSTROWSKA, University of Alberta, Canada; email: [email protected] 38 DOI: 10.2478/bsmr-2018-0003 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2018 / VOLUME 6 / ARTICLE ABSTRACT The article argues that Wojtek Smarzowski’s filmRose (Róża, Poland, 2011) undermines the dominant bi- gendered logic of screen death and suffering in the Polish films depicting the experience of World War II. In these films, there is a significant absence of images of female suffering and death, which is striking when compared to the abundant images of wounded and dying male bodies, usually represented as a lavish visual spectacle. This unrepresented female death serves as a ‘structuring absence’ that governs the systematic signifying practices of Polish cinema. Most importantly, it expels the female experience of World War II from the realm of history to the realm of the mythical. This representational regime has been established in the Polish national cinema during the 1950s, especially in Andrzej Wajda’s films, and is still proving its longevity. As the author argues, Smarzowski’s Rose is perhaps the most significant attempt to undermine this gendered cinematic discourse. Specifically, the essay explores the ways in which Smarzowski’s Rose departs from previous dominant modes of representation of the World War II experience in Polish cinema, especially its gendered aspect.1 Firstly, it examines how Rose abandons the generic conventions of both war film and historical drama and instead, utilises selected conventions of melodrama to open up the textual space in which to represent the female experience of historical events. -
The Shoah on Screen – Representing Crimes Against Humanity Big Screen, Film-Makers Generally Have to Address the Key Question of Realism
Mémoi In attempting to portray the Holocaust and crimes against humanity on the The Shoah on screen – representing crimes against humanity big screen, film-makers generally have to address the key question of realism. This is both an ethical and an artistic issue. The full range of approaches has emember been adopted, covering documentaries and fiction, historical reconstructions such as Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, depicting reality in all its details, and more symbolic films such as Roberto Benigni’s Life is beautiful. Some films have been very controversial, and it is important to understand why. Is cinema the best way of informing the younger generations about what moire took place, or should this perhaps be left, for example, to CD-Roms, videos Memoi or archive collections? What is the difference between these and the cinema as an art form? Is it possible to inform and appeal to the emotions without being explicit? Is emotion itself, though often very intense, not ambivalent? These are the questions addressed by this book which sets out to show that the cinema, a major art form today, cannot merely depict the horrors of concentration camps but must also nurture greater sensitivity among increas- Mémoire ingly younger audiences, inured by the many images of violence conveyed in the media. ireRemem moireRem The Shoah on screen – www.coe.int Representing crimes The Council of Europe has 47 member states, covering virtually the entire continent of Europe. It seeks to develop common democratic and legal princi- against humanity ples based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals. -
Bdramatyczne Przestrzenie Andrzeja Wajdyb
BDramatyczne przestrzenie Andrzeja Wajdy B ABSTRACT. Krajewska Anna, Dramatyczne przestrzenie Andrzeja Wajdy [Andrzej Wajda’s dramatic space]. „Przestrzenie Teorii” 27. Poznań 2017, Adam Mickiewicz University Press, pp. 7–10. ISSN 1644-6763. DOI 10.14746/pt.2017.27.0. This editorial is an impressionistic work on Andrzej Wajda’s output, predominantly emphasising its dramatic nature. The text presents the uniqueness of Andrzej Wajda’s creative work in such diverse forms of art as if they were one – his painting metamorphosed into film, drawing into screenplay, urban space into a theatre stage. Wajda is seen here not only as a director, but also as a contemporary dramatist, who creates the dramatic space of history’s traps, who dramatises the fate of the individual, and who interprets the drama of the philosophical stage. Po śmierci Andrzeja Wajdy ukazywać się zaczęły numery specjalne licznych czasopism literackich poświęcone Jego pamięci – jednego z naj- wybitniejszych artystów związanych z Krakowem, z Polską, wpisującym się równocześnie w światową kulturę i sztukę. Wajda to polska szkoła filmowa, Wajda to współczesna historia Polski, Wajda to myślenie o dzie- jach wykraczające poza refleksję o losach własnego kraju, ku obszarom historiozofii. Wajda to znawca pamięci, czasu, przemijania. Był twórcą niezwykłym także i dlatego, że uprawiał różne rodzaje sztuk tak, jakby były jednością – malarstwo pod Jego ręką przeistaczało się w kadr filmo- wy, dialogi wynikały z tańca, rysunek przekształcał się w scenografię, przestrzeń miasta – w teatralną -
Isbn 978-83-232-2284-2 Issn 1733-9154
Managing Editor: Marek Paryż Editorial Board: Paulina Ambroży-Lis, Patrycja Antoszek, Zofia Kolbuszewska, Karolina Krasuska, Zuzanna Ładyga Advisory Board: Andrzej Dakowski, Jerzy Durczak, Joanna Durczak, Jerzy Kutnik, Zbigniew Lewicki, Elżbieta Oleksy, Agata Preis-Smith, Tadeusz Rachwał, Agnieszka Salska, Tadeusz Sławek, Marek Wilczyński Reviewers for Vol. 5: Tomasz Basiuk, Mirosława Buchholtz, Jerzy Durczak, Joanna Durczak, Jacek Gutorow, Paweł Frelik, Jerzy Kutnik, Jadwiga Maszewska, Zbigniew Mazur, Piotr Skurowski Polish Association for American Studies gratefully acknowledges the support of the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission in the publication of the present volume. © Copyright for this edition by Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań 2011 Cover design: Ewa Wąsowska Production editor: Elżbieta Rygielska ISBN 978-83-232-2284-2 ISSN 1733-9154 WYDAWNICTWO NAUKOWE UNIWERSYTETU IM. ADAMA MICKIEWICZA 61-701 POZNAŃ, UL. FREDRY 10, TEL. 061 829 46 46, FAX 061 829 46 47 www.press.amu.edu.pl e-mail:[email protected] Ark. wyd.16,00. Ark. druk. 13,625. DRUK I OPRAWA: WYDAWNICTWO I DRUKARNIA UNI-DRUK s.j. LUBOŃ, UL PRZEMYSŁOWA 13 Table of Contents Julia Fiedorczuk The Problems of Environmental Criticism: An Interview with Lawrence Buell ......... 7 Andrea O’Reilly Herrera Transnational Diasporic Formations: A Poetics of Movement and Indeterminacy ...... 15 Eliud Martínez A Writer’s Perspective on Multiple Ancestries: An Essay on Race and Ethnicity ..... 29 Irmina Wawrzyczek American Historiography in the Making: Three Eighteenth-Century Narratives of Colonial Virginia ........................................................................................................ 45 Justyna Fruzińska Emerson’s Far Eastern Fascinations ........................................................................... 57 Małgorzata Grzegorzewska The Confession of an Uncontrived Sinner: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” 67 Tadeusz Pióro “The death of literature as we know it”: Reading Frank O’Hara ............................... -
1 INTRODUCTION This Dissertation Will Discuss the Perception of Polish
Cut off by the 'Iron Curtain' Item Type Thesis Authors Draniewicz, Anna B. Rights <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by- nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. Download date 24/09/2021 13:59:05 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4927 INTRODUCTION This dissertation will discuss the perception of Polish Cinema in English- language literature. During the collection of my secondary data, which concentrated mainly on English-language books but also includes newspapers and Internet resources, I encountered many interesting issues. These are divided here into three categories discussed in three chapters: ‘Stereotypes and Errors’ that result from the lack of knowledge thus causing misunderstandings, ‘Deficiencies’ about the absence of some films and directors in the English-speaking world and ‘Different Perspectives’ that reveal some interesting comparisons. The judgements applied to define these sections are respectively: accuracy (correctness of the facts), novelty (unknown trends) and originality of ideas (absent in Polish film criticism). During my research I have discovered the main factors distorting the perception of Polish cinema. I talked about them during my presentation entitled ‘English-Language Critical Engagements with Polish Cinema’ during the ‘Polish Cinema in an International Context’ conference held in Manchester in December 2009. Most of these issues are addressed in Chapter One, which outlines the problems that English-language authors seem to have with the Polish language, the background political issues and the lack of knowledge about some of the periods of Polish cinema.