Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk (1923-2006) was a label-defying auteur, and an innovator across the standard categories of the film universe. He is not least interesting for his shorts, which undoubtedly has meant a lot for other filmmakers like Jan Švankmajer, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch and Bertrand Mandico. Thanks to Arrow Films and Daniel Bird, who will present these two programmes, a large part of his oevre is restored and finally available again after decades on dusty shelves in the archives.
Borowczyk studied painting and graphic arts and was trained a lithographer. He contributed to advance Polish film posters from run of the mill consumables to becoming art. In the political thaw at the end of the 1950s he cooperated with Jan Lenica to make films that led to the advancement of animation worldwide.
In 1959 Borowczyk emigrated to France, where he was to create his most famous works. He would make a name for himself as a director of both shorts and feature films, and often took responsibility for screenplay, editing and graphic design on his own films. As with his compatriot Polanski, voyeurism is a dominant motif for Borowczyk – just like it is closely related to the actual situation of watching movies. While surrealism never had any obvious representatives in Poland, the absurd was well rooted through Slawomir Mrozek, Poland's most celebrated absurdist playwright. Thematically, Mrozek's influence is visible in the subversion of authority, satire on the power struggle in the home as well as in the society, and in a consistent interest in social dysfunctionality.
But on his move to feature films, just as the 60s became the 70s, something changed. Borowczyk became a controversial director, as his idiosyncratic style and interest in turbulent sexuality eventually came to be rather explicitly expressed in many of his films. Borowczyk was no stranger to shocking the audience, and was by some considered to be a reckless pornographer. Others saw him as a genius, a great artist who expressed the human libido in a refreshing way.
This unique and brilliant filmmaker, whom we this year want to pay tribute to with a retrospective, stands out as a representative of many of the qualities that Minimalen wishes to fight for: a personal, visionary, pioneering and media specific film expression, where animation and live-action are equally important forms. We hope you will let yourself be enchanted, shocked and pleased by the extraordinary film world of Walerian Borowczyk.
Sources: Arrow Films | Daniel Bird | Adam Mickiewicz Institute – Jan Strekowski (www.culture.pl)
Kamila Kuc (editor) 2014: The Struggle for Form: Perspectives on Polish Avant-Garde Film 1916-1989. Rights Clearance (except where noted): Tamasa Distribution, contact@tamasadistribution.com.
Del 1 Onsdag/Wednesday 16:00
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1963 | Ani. | 9 min
RENAISSANCE
En haug med skrot finner gradvis tilbake til sin originale
form og framstår som ikoniske gjenstander i et pent
organisert tablå; så smeller bomben. Elegant animert med
baklengs stop-motion-teknikk foregriper dette monumentale
signaturverket på mange måter det som senere skulle
komme gjennom Jan Švankmajer og Quay-brødrene.
A load of junk gradually returns to its original shape and
appears as iconic objects in a neatly organized tableau; then
the bomb explodes. Elegantly animated with backwards
stop-motion technique, this monumental signature work in
many ways anticipates what would later come through Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk | Camera: Guy Durban | Editing: Claude Blondel | Music: Avenir de Monfred |
Sound: Claude Blondel
Production: Les Cinéastes Associés – Jacques Forgeot
Director: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica
POL 1957 | Ani. | 9 min
ONCE UPON A TIME (BYL SOBIE RAZ)
Ved at de to opphavsmennene tar med seg minimalismen,
intelligensen og glimtet i øyet fra polsk plakatkunst over i
denne cut-out-animasjonen, blir filmen stående som selve
bindeleddet mellom de to kunstformene. Verkets verdi
som stildanner øker ytterligere av det radikalt nyskapende
elektro-akustiske lydsporet.
By employing much of the minimalism, intelligence and twinkle
in the eye known from Polish poster art in this cut-out animation,
the creators manage to establish a unique link between
the two forms of art. The level of esteem as a pioneering work
is further increased by the radically innovative electro-acoustic
soundtrack.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica |
Camera: Edward Bryla | Music: Andrzej Markowski
Production, Rights clearance: Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych, Zespól Filmowy KADR
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1963 | Ani. | 7 min
GRANDMOTHER'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA
(L'ENCYCLOPEDIE DE GRAND-MAMAN EN 13 VOLUMES)
Her skaper Borowczyk en ny og leken kunstform ved å animere
Art Nouveau-etsinger, og foregriper i samme slengen
både Terry Gilliams animasjoner i Monty Python og Peter
Greenaways bruk av alfabetet som motor i filmfortellingen.
Here Borowczyk is creating a new and playful form of art by
animating Art Nouveau etchings, thus anticipating both Terry
Gilliam's animations in Monty Python and Peter Greenaway's
use of the alphabet as an engine for storytelling.
Script, animation: Walerian Borowczyk |
Camera: Francis Pronier | Editing: Claude Blondel |
Music: Avenir de Monfred
Production: Les Cinéastes Associés – Jacques Forgeot
Director: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica
POL 1958 | Ani. | 11 min
HOUSE (DOM)
Vi dras inn i et hus hvor en ung kvinne eksponeres for en
serie absurde scener, skildret med et bredt arsenal av animasjonsteknikker
som gjør filmen til et essensielt historisk
knutepunkt på veien fra 20-tallets franske avant-garde, som
Hans Richter og Jean Cocteau, og framover mot samtidens østeuropeiske surrealister som Jan Švankmajer og Priit Pärn. Og som prikk over i-en: det elektro-akustiske lydsporet til
Kotonski.
We are drawn into a house where a young woman is exposed
to a series of absurd scenes, depicted with a wide array of animation
techniques that make the movie an essential historical
hub on the road from the 20s French avant-garde, like Hans
Richter and Jean Cocteau, onwards to contemporary eastern
European surrealists like Jan Švankmajer and Priit Pärn. And to
dot the i: the electro-acoustic soundtrack of Kotonski.
Production, Rights clearance: Romuald Hajnberg – Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych, Zespól Filmowy
KADR
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1962 | Ani. | 7 min
THE CONCERT (LE CONCERT)
En absurd slapstick-komedie tegnet i grov strek om ekteparet
Kabal, hvis forhold bølger mellom kjærlighet og krigføring.
En pilot for langfilmen «Theatre of Mr & Mrs Kabal».
An absurd slapstick comedy drawn in a rough line about the
Kabals, a married couple whose relationship shifts between
love and warfare. A pilot for the feature film 'Theatre of Mr &
Mrs Kabal'.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk
Production: Les Cinéastes Associés – Jacques Forgeot
Director: Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker
FRA 1959 | Ani. | 13 min
THE ASTRONAUTS (LES ASTRONAUTES)
I Georges Méliès' ånd bygger vår aspirerende astronaut et
romskip av papp og legger friskt i vei med bare en kattugle
som selskap. Den polske animasjonsteknikken er videreutviklet
til et svimlende nivå – her er fotografier redigert og
kopiert inn i hverandre og sammenflettet med tegninger
og gamle kobberstikk.
In the spirit of Georges Méliès, our aspiring astronaut builds a
spaceship out of cardboard and sets off with only a tawny owl
as company. The Polish animation technique is further developed
to dizzying heights – here photographs are edited and
copied into each other and interlaced with drawings and old
engravings.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker |
Camera: Daniel Harispe | Editing: Jasmine Chasney |
Animation: Walerian Borowczyk |
Music: Andrzej Markowski
Cast: Michel Boschet, Ligia Borowczyk, Anatole Dauman, Philippe Lifchitz
Production: Anatole Dauman -
Argos Films/Les Films Armorial
Director: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica
POL 1957 | Ani. | 8 min
REQUITED FEELINGS (NAGRODZONE UCZUCIE)
Historien om en sjenert ung manns gjengjeldte kjærlighet,
lekent fortalt med de naive, folkloristiske maleriene til Jan
Plaskocinski, bare supplert med stumfilmaktige mellomtekster.
The story of the requited love of a shy young man, playfully told
by use of the naïve folkloristic paintings of Jan Plaskocinski, only
supplemented by intertexts alá the silent film.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica |
Camera: Edward Bryla | Editing: Krystyna Rutkowska |
Music: Orkiestra Deta Gazowni Miejskiej w Warszawie
Sound: Halina Paszkowska
Production, Rights Clearance: WFDiF, Wytwórnia
Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1964 | Ani. | 12 min
ANGELS' GAMES (LES JEUX DES ANGES)
Borowczyks mesterverk, hvor hans talenter som maler,
animatør og filmkunstner går opp i en større enhet. Basert
på en serie abstrakte vannfarge-malerier, som sammen
med det ekstraordinære lydsporet makter å fremkalle
konsentrasjonsleirenes angst samtidig som det er uendelig
vakkert.
Borowczyk's masterpiece, where his talents as a painter, animator
and artist of the cinema adds up to a larger unified whole.
Based on a series of abstract water color paintings, which, supported
by the extraordinary soundtrack, manages to evoke the
concentration camp anxiety while still being infinitely beautiful.
Script, animation: Walerian Borowczyk |
Camera: Francis Pronier, Gerard Cox
Editing: Claude Blondel | Music: Bernard Parmegiani
Production: Les Cinéastes Associés – Jacques Forgeot
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1967 | Exp. | 9 min
DIPTYCH (DIPTYQUE)
To paneler som både teknisk og innholdsmessig framstår
som de totale motsetninger til hverandre, men som sett i
sammenheng skaper et spenn hvor stor kunst får rom til å oppstå.
Two panels, seemingly the complete opposites of each other
both technically and contentwise, that however, seen in context,
creates a span from where great art is given space to arise.
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1969 | Exp. | 5 min
THE PHONOGRAPH (LE PHONOGRAPHE)
Borowczyks siste objekt-animasjon – om en gammel fonograf
som monterer seg selv, spiller noen voksruller og selvdestruerer – kan oppfattes som en litt stillferdig slektning
til Renaissance.
Borowczyk's final object animation – about an old phonograph
that assembles itself and plays some wax drums before
self destructing – can be perceived as a subdued companion
piece to Renaissance.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk | Camera: Guy Durban |
Editing: Claude Blondel
Production: Pantaléon Films – Dominique Duvergé
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1967 | Fic. | 11 min
GAVOTTE
Til tonene av barokkmusikk slåss to dverger i sin kjedsomhet
om en pute. Borowczyk tar et steg i retning av spillefilmen,
men behandler skuespillere på animatørens vis: kamera i
fast posisjon rett forfra, med et diffust, skyggeløst lys.
To the tune of baroque music, two bored dwarves fight over a
pillow. Borowczyk takes a step in the direction of the live action
film, but treats actors as the animator he is: camera in a fixed
position straight on, with soft, shadow-less lighting.
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1966 | Fic. | 15 min
ROSALIE
Det rystende vitnemålet til en tjenestepike som drepte og
begravde sitt nyfødte barn i hagen, basert på en novelle av
Guy de Maupassant. Med minimalistiske virkemidler, som
ettsekunds innklipp av bevisgjenstander, klarer Borowczyk
på mesterlig vis å gjøre framstillingen mer blodfrysende
ubehagelig enn de fleste av dagens såkalte skrekkfilmer.
The harrowing testimony of a maid who murdered and buried
her newborn child in the garden, based on a short story by
Guy de Maupassant. With minimalist measures, such as one second
long shots of items of evidence, Borowczyk masterfully
manages to make the staging more blood-freezingly uncomfortable
than most of today's so-called horror films.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk, based on Guy de Maupassant
| Camera: Yann le Masson, Antoine Georgakis |
Editing: Catherine Kelber | Sound: Jacques Boujon |
Cast: Ligia Branice
Production: Dominique Duvergé
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1972 | Doc. | 12 min
A PRIVATE COLLECTION (UNE COLLECTION PARTICULIÈRE)
En vandring gjennom surrealistforfatteren Andre Pieyre de
Mandiargues' samling av antikvert snusk og erotiske leker
som gir grunnlag for å spørre seg hvorvidt den vestlige verden
virkelig er blitt så mye mer seksualfiksert enn den var i
'gode gamle dager'.
A tour through surrealist author Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues'
collection of antiquated smut and erotic toys, which gives
reason to ask oneself whether the Western world really has become
so much more sexually fixated than it was in the 'good
old days'.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk |
Cast: André Pieyre de Mandiargues
Production: Anatole Dauman, Peter Schamoni
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1963 | Ani. (commercial) | 10 min
HOLY SMOKE
En reklamefilm laget for Wills Cigars om S.C.C.S.S.P.s framvekst
og nederlag – Foreningen for bevaring av sigarrøyking
for de spesielt privilegerte. Et morsomt forvarsel for
Monty Python, både i type humor og animasjonsstil.
An advert made for Wills Cigars about the rise and fall of The
Society for the Conservation of Cigar Smoking for the Specially
Privileged. A hilarious precursor to Monty Python, both in type
of humour and style of animation.
Script, animation: Walerian Borowczyk
Production: Les Cinéastes Associés
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1965 | Ani. | 9 min
JOACHIM'S DICTIONARY (LE DICTIONNAIRE DE JOACHIM)
Joachim definerer et ord for hver bokstav i alfabetet med
visuelle illustrasjoner som tyder på at han mangler noe
på å mestre verdens absurditeter. Samme grunnidé som i
Grandmother's Encyclopaedia, men ytterligere anarkistisk.
Joachim defines a word for each letter of the alphabet through
visual illustrations that suggest that he lacks something to
master the world's absurdities. Same basic idea as in Grandmother's
Encyclopaedia, but with even more anarchy.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk | Camera: Constantin Tchikine | Editing: Catherine Kelber | Music: Bernard Parmegiani
Production: Dominique Duvergé
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1975 | Doc. | 5 min
VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL (ESCARGOT DE VENUS)
En feiring av de erotiske stifttegningene til Bona Tibertelli
de Pisis, som er befolket av hybridvesener med trekk fra
både mennesker og bløtdyr.
A celebration of the erotic crayon drawings of Bona Tibertelli de
Pisis, which are populated by hybrid creatures with features of
both humans and molluscs.
Script: Walerian Borowczyk | Camera: Noël Véry, Roger Grange | Cast: Bona Tibertelli de Pisis
Production: Anatole Dauman
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1984 | Ani. | 5 min
SCHERZO INFERNAL
Det tilfeldige møtet mellom en opprørsk djevel og en attraktiv
englefrøken i det brennende – enskjønt sensuelle – helvetets inferno. Borowczyks siste animasjonsfilm, og den
eneste gangen han kombinerer interessen for erotikk med
sine animatørferdigheter.
The chance encounter between a rebel devil and a nubile angel
in the fiery – albeit sensual – inferno of Hell. Borowczyk's final
animation, and the only time he combines his interest in erotica
with his skill as an animator.
Script, animation: Walerian Borowczyk | Music: Bernard
Parmegiani | Cast: Yves Robert (voice)
Production: Anatole Dauman
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
FRA 1977 | Doc. | 10 min
THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL TIME (L'AMOUR MONSTRE DE TOUS LES TEMPS)
Et portrett av den Paris-baserte serbiske surrealist-maleren
Ljuba Popovic i arbeid, hektisk klipt som en slags bevissthetsstrøm. En påminnelse om den unge Borowczyks ivrige
dokumentering av kunstnere.
A portrait of the Paris-based Serbian surrealist painter Ljuba
Popovic at work, hectically edited as a kind of stream of consciousness.
A reminder of the young Borowczyk's eagerness to
document artists.
Til topps
