CoMo No.1: Poland (May, 2022)

[rischka]

added to PoCoMo resources if anyone wants it!

[niminy-piminy]

i had my initial plans.
then unearthed Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz giant dvd and intended to watch all.
but then got the impression that her later (post-1989) oeuvre (about disco polo, anti-semitism, etc., etc.) is a bit too realistic and meanwhile unearthed another giant dvd from some past freeleech frenzy (Józef Robakowski).
so, my current plan: to watch anything and everything by Józef Robakowski!
btw. i see he made a window watching movie! https://letterboxd.com/film/from-my-window/
however, the first in the queue is...

TEST I (Józef Robakowski, 1971) #CoMoPoland

https://vimeo.com/192491709

This non-camera piece was made by puncturing several dozen holes in overexposed motion picture film. When projected, the film ‘lets through’ the (natural) powerful light of the cinematic projector which ‘attacks’ the viewer (‘recording itself’ on his retina). Triggering off the after-image phenomenon in this ‘twinkling’ film, the artist studies the physiological dimension of the film viewing process.

[sally]

film balkonowy / the balcony movie - paweł łoziński (2021) #CoMoPoland

YES.

[sally]

btw. i see he made a window watching movie! https://letterboxd.com/film/from-my-window/

*faints*

i can see, god bless him, that he's made it available online too!

*throws all her plans out the......*

[niminy-piminy]

the idea of “pure film”

ha! all those poles and their purity!

am not yet that far (to jump out of the window).
am still stuck in the phase of... um... Józef's "purity"

AN ATTEMPT (TEST II) (Józef Robakowski, 1971) #CoMoPoland

https://vimeo.com/192279987

Alongside Test I (1971) and Dynamic Rectangle, Test II is one of the most important early films Robakowski made without a camera. They all constitute the fullest manifestation of the artists’ desire to “purify” film of any literary types of perception. The results of these experiments led Robakowski to formulate his Nonlinguistic Semiological Conception of Film in 1975, where he postulated the impossibility of translation of film into the categories of structural linguistics.

[sally]

okay i like this guy

taniec z drzewami / dancing with trees - józef robakowski (1985) #CoMoPoland

https://vimeo.com/235231126

but i'm exhausted today and now i just need a brainless popcorn movie before bed which i'll probably fall asleep to anyway, polish trash come get me

[niminy-piminy]

DYNAMIC RECTANGLE (Józef Robakowski, 1971) #CoMoPoland
VIDEO SONGS (Józef Robakowski, 1992) #CoMoPoland

exercises of "purity" ↑↑↑↑ are over.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Józef going full "icky" ↓

VIDEO KISSES (Józef Robakowski, 1992) #CoMoPoland

https://vimeo.com/192495071

[sally]

i was gonna say that this robakowski is a nice discovery that would never have been made without CoMo, but you already discovered him....(and even more little films for me to track down now)

"Conference Fascinations: Poland" watchlist (7/21)...
https://www.ji-hlava.com/programove-sek ... ace-polsko

28/10 (3)
MY CITY (Wojciech Has, 1950)

On the border where dreams and reality collide, every nook and cranny of Krakow springs to life. The city’s appearance may be long gone, but its memory lives on (with the help of the narrator’s Proustian monologue).

HERE AND TEHRE (Andrzej Pawlowski, 1957)

Accompanied by a modernist composition from Adam Walaciński and set within the space of parentheses formed by an expressive portrait of a hand and wildly done-up faces, colourful flashes, smudges and reflections are thrown into the darkness with the help of a projector composed of crumpled-up cellophane, a reflector, and moving lenses.
https://youtu.be/QvtMXxzWkk0

ARTICLE ZERO (Włodzimierz Borowik, 1957)

The voyeuristic footage found from a police station where cops took prostitutes into custody after a night raid in the streets and slums of Warsaw.

3/11 (4)
EROTIQUE (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1960)

In a space made out of newspaper and defined by a mirror’s reflection, a surreal tension is felt between a girl on the run, who daydreams while dusting off a mirror, and a stranger who suddenly emerges from the depths of the space to amuse, frighten, and perhaps even win.

ABC (Janusz Polom, 1974)

The individual letters of the Polish alphabet, carefully pronounced in their phonemic form, gradually parade across a white background. They alternate with the black screen of the oscillograph, which is intersected by a trembling line and whose oscillations represent the phonetic realisation of every letter.

MY FILM (Józef Robakowski, 1974)

The camera, which is usually facing down on a path covered with autumn leaves, shakes with every step the filmmaker takes and the image of the park, dilapidated walls, and overgrown paths it conveys is fragmented and out of focus. The gaze of the camera brightens for just a few seconds when it discovers the next letter.

EXERCISES FOR TWO HANDS (Józef Robakowski, 1976)

Footage shot simultaneously by Robakowski using two cameras attached to his arms play side-by-side on a split-screen.

[niminy-piminy]

yup, i have seen in the past MY FILM and EXERCISES FOR TWO HANDS (all i have seen by Józef prior to CoMo).
but i can't recall those two films clearly so certainly gonna rewatch them.

[sally]

it was about roe v wade.

on this account, and the need for sleepy brainless trash, i watched:

wilczyca / she-wolf - marek piestrak (1983) #CoMoPoland

a polish horror film where a woman dies from a botched abortion, and comes back in various forms to wreak vengeance

Feels almost Herzogian at times. For a moment it even turns into a gothic, foggy Bava. The second half then becomes a comically erotic Borowczyk film with a grand mansion, a horny officer and an intoxicating countess

it was very dull! (despite some familiar faces) i think the budget was 10 złoty, and of course the patriarchy sets things straight in the end. pffft.

[niminy-piminy]

cud nad wisłą / the miracle at the vistula - richard boleslawski (1921) #CoMoPoland

i still have no idea what the miracle was...

wasn't the miracle (referred to in the title) the man showing up in the jar?

the only part of the plot that i fully grasped was Jurek losing all his self-control after seeing her first knit job.


also, let's not forget the excellent acting performance of the cat!


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[sally]

LOL! she had two lovers both with mustaches and tbh i confused one with the other, would have been better if she'd grown a bare-faced homunculus and then we'd know a bit more about where her favours went & maybe the plot would make more sense.

but i can sympathize with jurek's excitement! my mother got an enormous arcane knitting machine when i was a teenager and we. were. not. allowed. to. touch. it - thereby making it a party to all the other forbidden knots of unvirginal knowledge a teen aspires to. (the interdiction might have been related to the fact that at the time my artistic impulses were peaking with inserting plaster casts of my teeth into the obligatory vases in pottery class at school, drawing pictures in my own blood, and destroying my father's then very expensive work photocopier by trying to copy onto acetate sheets, which instead just melted inside and got me yelled at for years)

pretty sure the lack of opportunity to create my own knit job contributed to the waning of any artistic talent i had to the point where these days i might flinch at a pencil....and maybe i ended up in the north like a groping ariadne solely to be near blake's dark satanic mills and the echo of the infernal weaving machines they once contained....

anyway hurrah, it's movie time, gonna go watch the cock one...

[sally]

pan twardowski - henryk szaro (1936) #CoMoPoland

i had no idea this kind of fantasy stuff existed in the polish 30s - thanks for the rec, angel!

[Lencho of the Apes]

I really enjoyed the secondhand Weimaresque of Szaro's Mocny czlowiek/ A Strong Man, 1929, So I'm looking forward to Pan Twardosky. Hubba!

[sally]

i hope you like it murky lencho...(actually was thinking yesterday that there are some films that look better like that and we should gently steer any eager restorers in another direction)

also i know i should be doing 1921 (and religion at icm) but anyway....

debiutantka / debutante - barbara sass (1982) #CoMoPoland

Ewa is a young ambitious engineer who starts to work for the team of an acclaimed architect Jerzy. Gradually she becomes aware of the bizarre relations he has with his wife and lovers.

i resolved to watch some female directors and aside from doccers, i think sass is the most prolific after holland...has anyone got a take on her? i don't know what to make of this one cuz from the start the 'pretty actress playing dweeb' got up my nose and i think there were dangerous levels of allegories going on, but then that might just be because everyone is secretly crazy, as well (also there was a whole 'psychological journey' arc which is always annoying, but i'm intrigued enough to give sass another shot)





z mojego okna / from my window - józef robakowski (1999) #CoMoPoland

this on the other hand AAAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!!!!! i loved!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaargh!!!!! who is this guy?????

i LOL'd (repeatedly) i ooooo'd, i raised an eyebrow and went oh yes, you bastard?

why is it only 20 minutes best film of CoMo so far!

[sally]

someone wrote an article about it that's 10 times as long as the film itself!

https://www.pismowidok.org/en/archive/e ... -voyeurism

[niminy-piminy]

an acclaimed architect Jerzy

usually, i have a hard time following the plots.
but in this case, there is a high hope i can easily empathize with the main male protagonist and thus not get lost in the narrative!
so, i might try it.

maybe i should not tell this openly but hardly anybody reads this anyway, so whatever...
my tonight's plan was to watch "pawel & wawel" (what else to watch this "bonnie & clyde" evening, right?!?!?!).
however, somehow or other, i noticed it was shared by the user "kaczmarek".
seems like THE "kaczmarek".
so, seems like i am not the only one (in the conspirative cinephile den) using the real name as a conspirative nick!
then i noticed in the comments section the following exchange...

— did you have Farocki as a teacher in Vienna?
— Yes I had.

getting to know anyone being tutored by Harun Farocki means me going on high-alert mode.
so, i thoroughly investigated the "history" of the aforementioned "user".
besides "pavel & wawel", he also shared → https://letterboxd.com/film/przyjecie-n ... plus-trzy/
not surprised it was already independently discovered. (hello, sally!)
unfortunately, it is still without subs (so far only pot created — i just contributed).
then, in his viewing "history", i noticed (among other items) this → https://letterboxd.com/film/first-pavilion/
so (after wasting so much time on stalking), gonna watch the short "first pavilion" first and "pawel & wawel" tomorrow.
however, got really intrigued by this "kaczmarek" (even prior watching anything by him yet).

[sally]

.
besides "pavel & wawel", he also shared → https://letterboxd.com/film/przyjecie-n ... plus-trzy/
not surprised it was already independently discovered. (hello, sally!)

what you mean you contributed to a subs pot for przyjęcie na dziesięć osób plus trzy?

what, this przyjęcie na dziesięć osób plus trzy? (that i was mulling over watching tonight but took the sass route instead)



got it from smz!

can't upload now it's too late and tomorrow am working away from home so no uploading, but it'll be there by end of week (unless the subless kg version is longer than 53:41 and someone wants a better version)

also that architect was an arsehole

[niminy-piminy]

53:41

length : 00:53:43

yes, i foolishly contributed to the version that is 2 seconds longer and without subs.
any time it suits you. thx!

[sally]

(prekursor, 1988)



...singing out the sight of a trauma (national) solidified and ever returning


(stolarz, 1976)


today i'm revisiting (more redundancies!) some shorts, and slightly revising


parada / the parade - jerzy kucia (1987) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
strojenie instrumentów / tuning the instruments - jerzy kucia (2000) #CoMoPoland #rewatch


prekursor - grzegorz królikiewicz (1988) #CoMoPoland #rewatch

A thorough enquiry into a personality of a great Polish scholar Professor Marian Mazur who in 1970s created new psychological typology based on cybernetics.

all: wojciech wiszniewski
zawał serca / heart attack (1967) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
ślad / trace (1969) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
jutro. 31 kwietnia - 1 maja 1970 / tomorrow. 31st of april, 1st of may 1970 (1970) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
wilkasy 70 (1970) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
opowiesc o czlowieku, który wykonal 552% normy / a story of a man who filled 552% of the quota (1973) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
wanda gosciminska - wlókniarka / wanda gosciminska – a textile worker (1975) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
elementarz (1976) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
stolarz / a carpenter (1976) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
sztygar na zagrodzie / foreman on a farm (1978) #CoMoPoland #rewatch


watched in chronological order wiszniewski starts off making your everyday sarcastic average doc, but then in 1975 he goes berserk...something happens with wanda....



what happens?





zbig happens! (did i mention he was cute?) zbig only hangs around for this one film but he's made his mark, and wiszniewski then spurts off in his own mad direction - the best of the lot - elementarz (aka primer or abc book) probably loses something in translation (B might be for Bed, but chicken doesn't begin with D) but it's still delicious - proto roy andersson, but GRIMY...diiiiiiiirty.....mmmmm

[niminy-piminy]

BRACIA (Grzegorz Królikiewicz, 1971) #CoMoPoland rewatch

https://vimeo.com/123731232

i love all that is being said in this short film.
it's a great dadaist poem!

give me a hand
Kubica Wilhelm third place
Wilhelm on a lead
followed by Mikolay and Sylwester
Wilhelm Kubica on a first place
second Mikolaj Kubica
on a third place Sylwester Kubica
Mikolaj on third place
Kubica Wilhelm first
on a second place Mikolaj Kubica
Sylwester third
Kubica Wilhelm first
on a second place Mikolaj Kubica
Sylwester third
the champion of Poland is
Sylwester Kubica
the champion of Poland is
Wilhelm Kubica
and the silver goes to Mikolaj Kubica
yes
good
go on
stop bending your knees
yes
you are the one who's seeing wrongly
oh, fucking hell!
you've lost your grip
and
good
good!
good
too quick
legs
speed up the torso
straight arms
and
Sylwek, you have to do it calmly
and turn your head
oh yea
legs
that's it
it's not there yet
it's not there yet
start
begin swinging
heels
hop
yes
he swung but he bent his knees
yes
two
goes well, you see
good!
good
speed up the torso
yes
and pull!
good
tug now!
hop
pull up
sway him
O God!
swing
too quick
Filus
spin!
Sylwek, you must do it with confidence
swiftly jump over
somersault
you must practice somersault
the twist is too late
98,2 points
points
98.7
100.55 points
101
101.9
102
102.55 points
103.75
104.55 points
106.4
107.85 points
110.25 points
110.45 points
113.35
who's next to die?

[niminy-piminy]

FIRST PAVILION (Janusz Majewski, 1968) #CoMoPoland → Res.

(harm of) overpopulation
(benefits of) miniaturization
bathroom not for bathing
observers being observed
cat monster
time loops
sci-fi

[sally]

i found two more królikiewicz that i haven't seen!





but they'll have to wait, because tonight by some mysterious chance i was also with majewski



lokis. rekopis profesora wittembacha / lokis, a manuscript of professor wittembach - janusz majewski (1970) #CoMoPoland

not mad enough! it's this story! https://letterboxd.com/film/the-bears-wedding/
and oh how i loved that hyper-demented version...beyond pretty much everything else i saw last year

[sally]

an acclaimed architect Jerzy

usually, i have a hard time following the plots.
but in this case, there is a high hope i can easily empathize with the main male protagonist and thus not get lost in the narrative!
so, i might try it.

it was at this point, dear reader, that your idiot realised that jerzy is the polish jiří...(i blame those diabolical diacritics - for the unaccustomed they're sealed doors hiding mag-icky danger. 'jiri' is nice...friendly...mary poppins' dick van dyke going chim chiminey jireeee, but 'jiří' contains dragons. a bigger problem still, in that i hear it a thousand times over in every film so far, and every single time i cringe, is the passage between ku‧ję in dziękuję - i can't do it! my jaw and throat want to squeeze the sound from somewhere out of my inner ear, where no sounds can issue from - my body has to wait for its own revelation, but it's a long time coming now, years....it'll come when i'm too toothless and dribbling for it to be any good i'm sure, when i want to just be rude & thankless to everyone anyway...)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway the point is that in my unfocussed browsing i recalled seeing architect crop up before so did a search just of 35mm and as well as debutante and the endless film chronicles (news), main characters only:

pożegnania / farewells (1958) - wojciech jerzy has - paweł "an architecture student"
ósmy dzień tygodnia / the eighth day of the week (1958) aleksander ford - piotr (zbigniew cybulski) "a young architect"
anatomia miłości / the anatomy of love (1972) - roman załuski - adam (jan nowicki) "is an architect"
dziecinne pytania / childish questions (1981) - janusz zaorski - miś "A young architect is locked up in prison"
pełnia / full moon (1979) - andrzej kondratiuk - wojtek "a middle aged architect" gonna watch this on the 16th
och, karol / oh, charles (1985) - roman załuski - karol "a young, handsome architect"
gra / the game (1968) - jerzy kawalerowicz - małgorzata "she's an architect"


although i suspect 'architect' is being heavily used as metaphor for 'desire for world-building agency in political context' that still means there's more architects than prostitutes in my watchlist (even supposing i didn't refuse to watch films about prostitutes) a rarity in national cinemas! good on you poland!

[niminy-piminy]

oke, next month i am giving my 3 pts to Poland.

[sally]

am sure everyone else will totally support this going on for a full two months

[karl]

This one I saw recently and liked. One of the few fiction films of documentarian Kazimierz Karabasz. The channel has a few other embed-subbed Polish TV films, but I haven't seen those:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYH3zu7 ... KowalskaII

[sally]

uh oh i may be flagging, watched some karabasz early shorts and just found them boring

jak co dzień / day in, day out - kazimierz karabasz (1955) #CoMoPoland
muzykanci / the musicians - kazimierz karabasz (1960) #CoMoPoland #rewatch
ludzie w drodze / people on the road - kazimierz karabasz (1960) #CoMoPoland

kilka opowieści o człowieku / a few stories about a man - bogdan dziworski (1983) #CoMoPoland

this man has no arms. i'm not a man so i was slightly baffled by the below (i think he opened his fly by dry-humping the fence, but what happens after?) and he blows on his partner's face instead of a caress, adorable.

[greennui]

I could never do that without arms, means I wouldn't be able to retract the foreskin with my hands either. Maybe he's circumcised??

[rischka]

tmi rasmus...