Polish Cinema Today

Helena Goscilo; Beth Holmgren

doi:10.5771/9781793641663

Summary

A 2022 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title

Structured according to key themes, Polish Cinema Today analyzes the remarkable innovations in Polish cinema emerging a decade after the 1989 dissolution of the Soviet bloc, once its film industry had evolved from a socialist state enterprise into a much more accessible system of film production, with growing expertise in distribution and marketing. By the early 2000s, an impressive, diverse cohort of filmmakers broke through the gridlock of a small set of esteemed, aging auteurs as well as the glut of imported Hollywood blockbusters, empowered by the digital revolution and domestic audience appetite for independent work. Polish directors today challenge sacrosanct bromides about national and gender identity, Poland’s historical martyrdom, the status of the influential Catholic Church, and the benevolent family, while investigating the phenomena of migration and sexuality in their full complexity. Each thematic chapter places these recent films within a historical/cultural context nationally and transnationally, and designs its analyses of specific works to engage general audiences of film scholars, students, and cinephiles.

Keywords

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-4165-6
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-4166-3
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 348
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
1. The Transformation of the Polish Film Industry No access
2. Recurring Themes in Polish Cinema Today No access
3. The Structure of Polish Cinema Today No access
4. Notes No access
1. The Citadel of Polish Traditions No access
2. The Church in Western and Polish Cinema No access
3. Apotheosis and Sainthood No access
4. The Darker Side No access
5. Clergy’s Documentary Counterpart: Tylko nie mów nikomu (Just Don’t Tell Anyone 2019), Tomasz and Marek Sekielski83 No access
6. Conclusion: Screening the Church No access
7. Notes No access
1. Polish Migration and Emigration in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centires No access
2. Poles Abroad: Strange Heaven (2015) No access
3. Poles Abroad: Beyond Words (2017) No access
4. Poles Left at Home: Wild Roses (2017) No access
5. Poles Left at Home: Silent Night (2017) No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
1. Myths and Mythologies No access
2. Double Exposure: Cicha noc (Silent Night 2017), Piotr Domalewski No access
3. “L’enfer c’est les autres”: Ostatnia rodzina (The Last Family 2016), Jan Matuszyński No access
4. Life as Psychodrama or Maternal Death as Familial Demise: 33 Sceny z życia (33 Scenes from Life 2008), Małgorzata Szumowska26 No access
5. The Fragile Male Ego: Milość (Love 2012), Sławomir Fabicki35 No access
6. The Biology Trap: Matka swojej matki (Mother to Her Own Mother 1996), Robert Gliński No access
7. Murderous Maternity: Syn Królowej Śniegu (Son of the Snow Queen 2017/2018), Robert Wichrowski No access
8. À la recherche du temps perdu: Fuga (Fugue 2018), Agnieszka Smoczyńska No access
9. Conclusion No access
10. Notes No access
1. The Twenty-First-Century Cultural Context: The Jewish Revival No access
2. The Twenty-First-Century Context: Jedwabne, New Holocaust Scholarship, and Documentaries No access
3. Twenty-First-Century Rescreenings of the Polish Jews No access
4. The Manipulation of Moving Images: Po-Lin: Scraps of Memory (2008) No access
5. De-theatricalizing the Holocaust: Holland’s In Darkness No access
6. The Blank of Postwar Jewishness in Pawlikowski’s Ida No access
7. Poles against Poles: Digging up the Holocaust at Home in Pasikowski’s Aftermath No access
8. Conclusion No access
9. Notes No access
1. On the street and on the Screen No access
2. The New Poland’s Criminal Cont(r)acts: Dług (The Debt 1999), Krzysztof Krauze No access
3. Murder with a Smile: Ach śpij kochanie (The Lullaby Killer 2017), Krzysztof Lang No access
4. Convenient but Dubious Guilt: Jestem mordercą (I’m a Killer 2016), Maciej Pieprzyca No access
5. Caught in a Web of His Own Making: Czerwony pająk (The Red Spider 2015), Marcin Koszałka No access
6. The Past with Its Horrors Never Dies: Zaćma (Blindness 2016), Ryszard Bugajski No access
7. Juridical Machismo and the System: Układ zamknięty (Closed Circuit 2013), Ryszard Bugajski No access
8. Conclusion No access
9. Notes No access
1. Sociopolitical History: The Cold War in Eastern Europe No access
2. Artistic Legacy: The “Golden Age” of Polish Film Made during the Cold War No access
3. Post-communist Polish Film about the Cold War No access
4. Framing the System: The Dark House as Horror Film of the Absurd No access
5. Love Stories: The Worker and Intelligentsia Mésalliance No access
6. Little Rose and The Reverse: The Charms and Crimes of the Intelligentsia No access
7. Cold War: The Working-class Star Steals the Show No access
8. Conclusion No access
9. Notes No access
1. Women's Bodies Under Socialism No access
2. Polish Sexology No access
3. Post-Socialist Ignominies: Liberty to Regress No access
4. Sex as Political Strategy/Entrapment: Różyczka (Little Rose 2010), Jan Kidawa-Błoński No access
5. The Trials of Sexology: Sztuka kochania (The Art of Loving 2016/2017), Maria Sadowska44 No access
6. Sex as the Oldest and Oddest Profession: Sponsoring (Elles 2011), Małgorzata Szumowska No access
7. Sex as Sibling Incest: Bez wstydu (Shameless 2012), Filip Marczewski No access
8. Conclusion No access
9. Notes No access
1. Mixed Messages: Homosexuality in Poland No access
2. Gayness on the Recent Polish Screen No access
3. Kochankowie z Marony (The Lovers from Marona 2005), Izabella Cywińska No access
4. Triumph of Gay Love: Senność (Drowsiness/Torpor 2008), Magdalena Piekorz No access
5. The Seeming Wolf in Catholic Sheep’s Clothing: W imię . . . (In the Name of . . . 2013), Małgorzata Szumowska No access
6. The Male View: Płynące wieżowce (Floating Skyscrapers 2013), Tomasz Wasilewski No access
7. Catholicism and Homosexuality—A Devil’s Contract or a Safe Harbor? No access
8. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 295 - 322
Index No access Pages 323 - 346
About the Authors No access Pages 347 - 348