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Friday, December 16, 2011

Inocentii Fermecatori



Mędrce dawnych wieków
Zamykali się szukać skarbów albo leków
I trucizn - my niewinni młodzi czarodzieje
Szukajmy ich, by otruć własne swe nadzieje.

(click here for the English version)

Niewinni Czarodzieje (Inocentii Fermecatori), un film facut in 1960,adunand cateva din cele mai mari nume ale cinematografiei poloneze: regizor era Andrzej Wajda; Jerzy Andrzejewski (autorul Cenusei si Diamantului, romanul care a stat la baza filmului omonim) a fost aici scenarist, impreuna cu Jerzy Skolimowski (care a aparut totodata intr-un rol de un minut); muzica a fost compusa de Krzysztof Komeda (care a compus de asemenea muzica pentru cateva din primele filme ale lui Polanski); ii veti recunoaste in distributie pe Zbigniew Cybulski si Roman Polanski; in rolurile principale au jucat Tadeusz Lomnicki si Krystyna Stypulkowska. E o sarbatoare sa ii vezi pe toti. Va trece vremea si fiecare va merge pe drumul lui; Komeda va muri foarte devreme, Stypulkowska va mai juca doar in inca doua roluri, Polanski va pleca in America, va avea scandalul de care stim toti si va trai apoi in Franta, Cybulski va muri in cativa ani intr-un accident ingrozitor de stupid, Andrzejewski va milita in Solidaritatea, Lomnicki va ajunge membru in Comitetul Central, iar Wajda ii va refuza un rol la care visa; aici sunt insa toti, tineri, toate aceste legende ale universului filmului.

Am vazut filmul prima oara pe la sfarsitul anilor saizeci. Eram foarte tanar, iar filmele poloneze imi placeau foarte mult. Asta m-a luat total pe nepregatite. Am inteles ca era un film cu eroi din generatia mea, tineri de vreo douazeci si ceva de ani (adica exact cei care acum sunt pusi la zid ca baby-boomers de saizeci de ani si mai bine). Totusi subiectul mi s-a parut cam non-issue. Un doctor tanar (cam playboy si cam sastisit de succesele sexuale) intalneste intr-o seara o tipa ciudata care vine foarte repede la el acasa. Ce urmeaza este o noapte de discutii. Atmosfera este tensionata, toti asteptam sa se intample ceea ce stim ca se intampla cand o tipa vine acasa la un tip (si ei asteapta asta), dar dialogul lor este nesfarsit. Dimineata el iese pe strada, are un schimb foarte scurt de replici cu cineva, si isi da seama ca s-a indragostit, asa ca se intoarce, numai ca ea nu mai e acolo. Sau mai este? End of story.

Eram un fan al filmelor poloneze si iubeam filmele lui Wajda si Kawalerowicz. Asta era alt animal. Si era regizat de Wajda!

De fapt filmul era stampilat Skolimowski! Regizor era intr-adevar Wajda, numai ca el a jucat foarte cuminte pe mana scenaristului. Michael Open (care a recenzat filmul pentru imdb) o spune fara ocolisuri: forta creativa este aici Skolimowski, nu Wajda. Inocentii Fermecatori este suta la suta Nouvelle Vague (sau New Wave, daca va place mai mult termenul), si pe vremea aia nu eram familiarizat deloc cu curentul asta.

Parea ciudat, si parea cinic, dar asa par toate filmele Nouveau Vague. Ciudat, pentru ca dadea la lada de gunoi cateva conventii cinematografice respectabile (si nu numai cinematografice). Cinic pentru ca nu credea in nici un sistem, fie el sistem politic, fie orice alt sistem de bla-blau-ri.

L-am revazut de curand pe youTube. Au trecut anii si am vazut o gramada de filme Nouveau Vague, nu pe toate, nu pe cele mai faimoase, dar orisicat. De data asta l-am inteles si am avut un sentiment de nostalgie, si asta tocmai pentru ca l-am inteles. Un film facut atunci cand cei de o varsta cu mine aveau douazeci si ceva de ani, cu mentalitati ale acelei varste, vorbind persoanei care eram atunci la douazeci de ani, in nici un caz persoanei care sunt acum.

Deci, oleaca nostalgic. In acelasi timp, fermecat. Am fost suta la suta gresit atunci de demult, cand mi-am zis ca filmul asta este un non-issue. Filmul asta este perfect si atunci cand il urmaresti simti ceva organic, iti vine ca aerul sau apa.

Cred ca in romaneste titlul filmului a fost tradus foarte bine. In engleza este Innocent Sorcerers (Vrajitorii Inocenti), insa eu zic ca Fermecatori este mai potrivit decat Vrajitori: filmul asta este superb ambiguu incepand cu titlul lui. Si este ambiguu chiar dela inceput: chiar prima scena arata o femeie trecand pe o strada pe care se lafaie niste afise uriase ale filmului astuia! Este oare Inocentii Fermecatori un film despre el insusi?

Pentru Krystyna Stypulkowska a fost primul film. Va mai juca doar in inca doua. Aici e extraordinara, fermecatoarea perfecta care nu te lasa sa ghicesti cat angelic si cat diabolic ascunde, de unde vine si unde va pleca de aici.

Titlul filmului vine dintr-o capodopera a literaturii poloneze, Dziady (Strabunii), poemul dramatic al lui Adam Mickiewicz. Este un vers in prima sectiune a poemului, despre acei niewinni młodzi czarodzieje (fermecatori inocenti tineri) care własne swe nadzieje (isi otravesc sperantele).

Dziady are patru sectiuni, foarte vag legate intre ele, fiecare compusa de Mickiewicz intr-o perioada diferita a vietii. Prima sectiune urmareste tribulatiile sentimentale ale unui cuplu tanar, foarte nedecis incotro sa o apuce in relatia lor: fermecatori inocenti care isi ard speranta. Dar nu numai in prima sectiune: dragostea este o tema importanta in intregul poem. Dziady este un poem despre etosul polonez, individual si colectiv. Dragostea este esentiala, crede Mickiewicz pentru salvarea acestui etos: individual si national. Iar cei ce sa marginesc la jocuri inocente si fermecatoare, isi otravesc viata pana la urma: viata individuala si viata natiei.

Intorcandu-ne la film, este o scena catre sfarsit in care eroul principal intreaba pe cineva pe strada ce este mai important decat Credinta si Speranta? Iubirea, vine raspunsul, si aceasta trimitere la I Corintieni 13, ne da cheia: filmul asta este o replica a primei sectiuni a lui Dziady, jucata in epoca moderna. Fermecatorii inocenti si tineri trebuie sa isi asume dragostea ca sa nu isi arda speranta.

Filmul a fost facut in 1960. In 1968 1968 Dziady va intra din nou in scena: o reprezentatie teatrala a poemului va fi interzisa de cenzura, ceea ce va aduce studentii polonezi in strada impotriva regimului comunist.


---------------------------------

Am gasit filmul pe youTube, in doua versiuni: sase video-uri succesive si de asemenea intreg filmul intr-un video foarte lung. Nu au subtitluri, dar cred ca iamginile spun destul de bine ce este de spus.



Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 1/6
(video by elmarcin11)


A young doctor is tired of being sought by women. One night he meets a young girl who all but forces herself into his room where they talk of morals and love. But he loses her when he goes out to see some friends and then rushes madly around the city after her.



Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 2/6
(video by elmarcin11)


This wry, cynical tale of attraction, desire, and disaffected youth marked the only time that these giants of the Polish School worked together, and the result is this re-discovered masterpiece of Polish Cinema.A handsome but insensitive young doctor spends his evenings playing jazz in a small club, and enjoying the attention of numerous female admirers. Tired of one-night-stands, he is still intrigued by a young girl and invites her to his room. They spend the night together, but do nothing but talk. He looks for her the following day, but she has disappeared—or so it seems.




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 3/6
(video by elmarcin11)


This was the first mainland European film I saw as a teenager in the early 60s. I saw it on late-night television and it knocked me out. Later on I saw Wajda's Generation trilogy and could barely believe that this was the same director. I have subsequently seen it on the big screen a couple of times and it remains a favorite from its era. The reason was simply that the creative force behind Innocent Sorcerers is not Wajda but Jerzy Skolimowski.
You only need to take a look at Walkover to see the same callous and alienated attitude of the central character. However, for me, Innocent Sorcerers is a superior film to Skolimowski's earliest directorial works as, through the character of Pelagia, a much greater warmth and meaning is expressed.
Krystyna Stypulkowska
makes a perfect Pelagia - coquettish and flirtatious, but still innocent. The exquisite scene of tossing the matchbox is more erotic than all but a handful of explicit sex scenes from modern cinema.
There are few films from Eastern Europe in the Soviet era that ever make you really care about the characters - this is definitely one.




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 4/6
(video by elmarcin11)


In this cynical masterpiece of disaffected Polish youth, a world-weary playboy doctor (Tadeusz Lomnicki) tires of his endless parade of one-night stands and seeks more substance in his life. His wish just may come true in the form of Pelagia (Krystyna Stypulkowska), a spirited young girl who challenges his mind and soul. A young Roman Polanski makes an appearance in this wry and witty romance from director Andrzej Wajda.




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 5/6
(video by elmarcin11)


This is a small gem from Andrzej Wajda, whose production boasts of Polish film legends Zbigniew Cybulski and Tadeusz Lomnicki, supporting players Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski, and soundtrack composer Krzysztof Komeda. The story of a young doctor and one-night encounter with a beautiful girl is told in a witty, stream-of-consciousness style whose story flows along like a meandering, medium-tempo jazz riff. While the film is reminiscent of other classic Polish films of the day like Wajda's Ashes & Diamonds and Polanski's Knife in the Water, it also has an uncanny similarity to films of the French New Wave; interesting that Innocent Sourcerers was made at exactly the same time as Godard's Breathless, because it shares much the same attitude and feel. Fans of groundbreaking classic European film from the 50s and 60s will probably enjoy this one.
(review in Netflix)




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 6/6
(video by elmarcin11)


Part I of Dziady, published after Mickiewicz’s emigration to France, was probably written in the early 1820s, although never finished. Meant to be a picture of emotion of the 19th century people, it was immediately given up by the author. It shows a young couple, feeling confused and trying to choose between the sentimental idea of love, adjustment to the society and respect to own nature.


filmul intreg:


Niewinni Czarodzieje: the whole movie
(video by Tolek81)

Labels: ,

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Niewinni Czarodjeje (Innocent Sorcerers)



Mędrce dawnych wieków
Zamykali się szukać skarbów albo leków
I trucizn - my niewinni młodzi czarodzieje
Szukajmy ich, by otruć własne swe nadzieje.

(click here for the Romanian version)

Niewinni Czarodzieje (Innocent Sorcerers), a movie made in 1960, gathering some of the greatest names of Polish cinema: director was Andrzej Wajda; Jerzy Andrzejewski (the author of Ashes and Diamonds, the novel on which the homonym film was based) created here the screenplay, together with Jerzy Skolimowski (who also had a cameo); the music was composed by Krzysztof Komeda (who also scored some of the first movies of Polanski); you will recognize in the cast Zbigniew Cybulski and Roman Polanski; the lead characters were played by Tadeusz Lomnicki and Krystyna Stypulkowska. It's a feast to see them all, time will go and each one will follow a different path, here they are together, in their young years, these legends of the film universe.

I saw the movie for the first time by the end of the sixties. I was very young, and I liked Polish movies very much. This one took me totally by surprise, as I was expecting something different. I realized it was a movie with heroes of my generation, people in their twenties (now we are the baby-boomers of late sixties). However, the plot came to me as a non-issue. A young physician, kind of a playboy, kind of tired of his sexual successes, meets one evening a young woman who comes to his apartment. What follows is a night of discussions. The atmosphere is tensioned, we expect the obvious outcome (and they expect this outcome as well), their talk is endless. Next morning he goes out, has a brief discussion with some guy on the street after which he probably realizes he loves her, so he comes back, she is no more. Or is she still there? Maybe. That's all.

I was a fan of Polish movies, and I loved the films of Wajda and Kawalerowicz. This one was not that kind. And it was directed by Wajda!

Actually this movie is stamped Skolimowski! The director was indeed Wajda, but he played faithfully the hand of his scriptwriter. Michael Open (who reviewed the movie for imdb) says it bluntly: the creative force is here Skolimowski, not Wajda. Innocent Sorcerers is hundred percent New Wave, and by that time I wasn't familiarized at all with this current.

It looks quirky and it looks cynical, because that's the way New Wave looks like. Quirky because it throws away some respected cinematic conventions (and not only cinematic), and cynical, because it doesn't believe in the system, be it political system, be it any other blah-blah system.

I watched again Innocent Sorcerers recently, on youTube. Years have passed and I saw many great movies of the New Wave. This time I understood it, and I had a feeling of nostalgia, just because of that. A movie made when my generation was in the twenties, with heroes of that age, with mentalities of that age, speaking to the person I was at that age, no more to the person I am now.

So the movie made me a bit nostalgic. In the same time, I was charmed. I had been hundred percent wrong when watching it first time. It's far from being a non-issue. This film is perfect, and watching it brings something like organic satisfaction: such an artwork comes as naturally as air or water.

Maybe the title was translated in Romanian more appropriately than it was in English: Inocentii fermecatori, it could mean Innocent Charmers, also Charming Innocents. Charmers is more fit than Sorcerers: this movie is superbly ambiguous beginning with its title. It also is ambiguous beginning with the beginning: the very first scene shows a woman passing the street and leaving behind huge posters of this movie! So, is Niewinni Czarodzieje (Innocent Sorcerers, or Innocent Charmers, whatever) a movie about itself?

For Krystyna Stypulkowska, the female lead, it was her first movie. She would play only in two more films. I looked for further information, without success. Well, she played here amazingly, the perfect charmer who never let you tell what's behind the charm, the good and the evil, who never let you know where she came from and where will she go.

The title of the movie comes from a masterpiece of Polish literature: Dziady (Forefathers'Eve), the poetic drama created by Adam Mickiewicz. It's a line in the first part of Dziady that names the niewinni młodzi czarodzieje (innocent young charmers) who własne swe nadzieje (poison their own hopes).

Dziady has four parts, very loosely related, each one created by Mickiewicz in a different period of life. The first part follows the sentimental tribulations of a young couple, confused about the path to take in their relationship: the innocent charmers who burn their own hopes. But it's not only the first part: love comes as an important theme in the whole poem. Dziady is about Polish ethos, both individual and collective. Giving and returning love is viewed by Mickiewicz as essential for the salvation of that ethos: individual and national. While keeping on the innocent charm level will poison hope and ultimately life: personal life and national life.

Coming back to the movie, there is a scene by the end in which the main hero asks someone on the street what is over Faith and Hope. Love, comes the answer. It's a quote from I Corinthians 13, and it gives us the clue: this movie is a replica to the first part of Dziady, played in our epoch. The innocent young charmers must recognize and assume their love, to not burn hope.

The movie was made in 1960. In 1968 Dziady will come once again in the picture: a representation of the poem will be forbidden, which will bring the Polish students on the streets, against the Communist regime.


---------------------------------

Here is the movie as I found it on youTube, in two versions: six successive videos and also the whole movie in one long video. None of the versions came with subtitles, but I think the images communicate the whole tension between the two protagonists.



Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 1/6
(video by elmarcin11)


A young doctor is tired of being sought by women. One night he meets a young girl who all but forces herself into his room where they talk of morals and love. But he loses her when he goes out to see some friends and then rushes madly around the city after her.



Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 2/6
(video by elmarcin11)


This wry, cynical tale of attraction, desire, and disaffected youth marked the only time that these giants of the Polish School worked together, and the result is this re-discovered masterpiece of Polish Cinema.A handsome but insensitive young doctor spends his evenings playing jazz in a small club, and enjoying the attention of numerous female admirers. Tired of one-night-stands, he is still intrigued by a young girl and invites her to his room. They spend the night together, but do nothing but talk. He looks for her the following day, but she has disappeared—or so it seems.




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 3/6
(video by elmarcin11)


This was the first mainland European film I saw as a teenager in the early 60s. I saw it on late-night television and it knocked me out. Later on I saw Wajda's Generation trilogy and could barely believe that this was the same director. I have subsequently seen it on the big screen a couple of times and it remains a favorite from its era. The reason was simply that the creative force behind Innocent Sorcerers is not Wajda but Jerzy Skolimowski.
You only need to take a look at Walkover to see the same callous and alienated attitude of the central character. However, for me, Innocent Sorcerers is a superior film to Skolimowski's earliest directorial works as, through the character of Pelagia, a much greater warmth and meaning is expressed.
Krystyna Stypulkowska
makes a perfect Pelagia - coquettish and flirtatious, but still innocent. The exquisite scene of tossing the matchbox is more erotic than all but a handful of explicit sex scenes from modern cinema.
There are few films from Eastern Europe in the Soviet era that ever make you really care about the characters - this is definitely one.




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 4/6
(video by elmarcin11)


In this cynical masterpiece of disaffected Polish youth, a world-weary playboy doctor (Tadeusz Lomnicki) tires of his endless parade of one-night stands and seeks more substance in his life. His wish just may come true in the form of Pelagia (Krystyna Stypulkowska), a spirited young girl who challenges his mind and soul. A young Roman Polanski makes an appearance in this wry and witty romance from director Andrzej Wajda.




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 5/6
(video by elmarcin11)


This is a small gem from Andrzej Wajda, whose production boasts of Polish film legends Zbigniew Cybulski and Tadeusz Lomnicki, supporting players Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski, and soundtrack composer Krzysztof Komeda. The story of a young doctor and one-night encounter with a beautiful girl is told in a witty, stream-of-consciousness style whose story flows along like a meandering, medium-tempo jazz riff. While the film is reminiscent of other classic Polish films of the day like Wajda's Ashes & Diamonds and Polanski's Knife in the Water, it also has an uncanny similarity to films of the French New Wave; interesting that Innocent Sourcerers was made at exactly the same time as Godard's Breathless, because it shares much the same attitude and feel. Fans of groundbreaking classic European film from the 50s and 60s will probably enjoy this one.
(review in Netflix)




Niewinni Czarodzieje: Part 6/6
(video by elmarcin11)


Part I of Dziady, published after Mickiewicz’s emigration to France, was probably written in the early 1820s, although never finished. Meant to be a picture of emotion of the 19th century people, it was immediately given up by the author. It shows a young couple, feeling confused and trying to choose between the sentimental idea of love, adjustment to the society and respect to own nature.


the whole movie:


Niewinni Czarodzieje: the whole movie
(video by Tolek81)



(Filmofilia)

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Katyn

Katyn, made by Andrzej Wajda in 2007.



Katyn: Part 1/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 2/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 3/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 4/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 5/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 6/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 7/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 8/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 9/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 10/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 11/12
(video by cozee0)




Katyn: Part 12/12
(video by cozee0)



(Filmofilia)

Labels:

Friday, January 08, 2010

Ashes and Diamonds

Beyond their noble patriotic commitment, the movies of Andrzej Wajda are tragic meditations about history: past times are just ashes, they never come back, they remain unknown despite our best attempts. Anything we are trying will eventually become ashes, there is no sense you can preserve. And actually the patriotic vein in his movies is his fight to resurrect the history, to demonstrate that what our forerunners did was not senseless, to demonstrate that we can reconstruct the memories. It is a harsh fight against the present; only the present is now, and it has other concerns, other interests... and the past remains just ashes. Ashes where diamonds are sparkling here and there: Maciek from Popiól i Diament (Ashes and Diamonds), rendered by Zbigniew Cybulski, he is a diamond sparkling in the ashes, the guy who fought the Nazis in Warsaw's insurrection; what remained were his darkened glasses, the partisans had been running through the underground tunnels and the Germans had been using gas to make them come out; his black glasses and his mug, to pour vodka and to burn it, to re-memorate his killed comrades; now the remaining of the partisan army is gathering in restrooms to plan the killing of the new masters, the Communists.

It was one of the greatest movies I've seen ever. I read later the book of Jerzy Andrzejewski; it was much more cautious, balancing Anti-Communist partisans and Communists; the movie gave up much of the caution, and Maciek was no more a tragic hero not understanding the present; he was a tragic hero, fighting to demonstrate that past was not senseless. And he remained for ever Zbig Cybulski, and Zbig remained for ever Maciek.

I found the movie on youTube; without subtitles, so probably those who have watched it once, long ago, will try to see Popiól and Diament again. Enjoy!




Popiól i Diament: Part 1/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 2/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 3/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 4/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 5/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 6/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 7/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 8/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 9/10
(video by OldFilmPL)




Popiól i Diament: Part 10/10
(video by OldFilmPL)


(Filmofilia)

Labels: